Hunted
by sapphire blue-ruby red roses
Summary: Sequel to Hidden. It's been a few months since Naru adopted Tamaki and Kamin, and everything has been running smoothly. SPR gets a case from a high school basketball team complaining about a haunted gymnasium. Ash is still after Mai, and now he's caught wind of not only Naru, but the twins as well. Rated T just to be safe, rating may jump up later.
1. Chapter 1: Making a Return

**Yay, the sequel to Hidden! Finally! Sorry it took me so long to actually write and put up the first chapter guys. I'm not gonna make excuses so let's keep moving. I'm going to be writing and posting this story as I am doing the same for C is for Change. I'm hoping not to slow down, but we'll see! Be warned now, this will be somewhat of a crossover with Kuroko no Basuke, but I don't plan on using any of the plot from the manga/anime or the characters as a first person POV. This'll be interesting, I think, like an experiment! :D  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Ghost Hunt, guys.**

Chapter 1: Making a Return

"_Haru! Haru! Look at me!" a young man called, waving to a man watching him from above. A silver bracelet gleamed around his wrist, a topaz stone shining along the metal. His eyes were the same color. He waved happily to the man, but the man looked away to another person Mai couldn't see on the high rise. She stood on the sidelines, Tamaki clutching her leg, watching the scene play out._

_He looked away, down at the basketball held between his hands. Dejectedly, his shoulders slumped forward. "Never mind," he muttered under his breath, "It wasn't anything important to begin with." He dribbled the ball with skilled hands, shooting from the free throw line. Sighing as it swished, he turned and headed for the locker rooms._

'I'd never be able to do anything like that in real life,'_ Mai told Tamaki with a half laugh, following the teen into the locker room. _'I don't know if I should follow him any further,'_ she murmured, pressing her fingers to her lips as she glance around a corner, _'Or wait here, because this just feels so wrong.'

'Wrong in a bad way?'_ Tamaki asked, looking up at her with curious eyes._

'Not necessarily.'_ Tamaki cocked his head, but went silent as a new voice intruded on their conversation._

_Choking sounds came from around the corner, where the teen had disappeared. "I am done with your filthy little tricks," another male voice snarled. It sounded vaguely familiar, but Mai couldn't place it for the life of her. "You've evaded me long enough. I've finally got you. You are mine."_

"_I will… never be… yours. I will never… submit," the teen spat out, his words strained and forced._

"_Oh, we'll see about that," the other voice said, jumping up several octaves with glee, "We'll definitely see about that."_

_The locker rooms dissolved around them. They were shoved back into the gym where the teen had been playing. It was utterly pitch black except for a thin stream of moonlight filtering through the high windows. It glinted off something hanging from the overhead railing._

'Tamaki, don't look!'_ Mai shouted, dropping to her knees, pressing Tamaki's face into her shoulder._

_The dead eyes of the teen stared unseeingly at her. His mouth gaped open, his tongue lolling out. His skin was a sickly blue, the kind you turn when you don't have oxygen for a prolonged period of time. The body swayed gently back and forth, the railing creaking with its movements. The last thing Mai saw before her vision went black was the glint of the bracelet around the boy's wrist, the topaz stone replaced with a green and brown stone._

…..

"Mai-chan! Mai-chan! Mai-chan, wake up!" two loud, children's voices shouted in Mai's ear. The bed she slept on rocked to and fro as they jumped relentlessly on the mattress, giggling like mad. "Come on! Get up!"

Mai groaned just as loudly, turning over and burying her face in her pillow. Maybe she'd have some luck suffocating herself. "Five more minutes." No such luck.

The twins glanced at each other, grinning widely. Despite their young age, they knew exactly which buttons they could push to wake her up. "Mom, come on! Daddy said that we have to get there early because we have clients coming," the pair responded, shaking her shoulders. They sat down on her back, jumping up and down. "Oh, hi Rex!" A loud bark echoed through the room in response to their call.

"I'm up! I'm up!" Mai shouted, shoving herself up, surprised by the title they'd just appointed her. She also didn't want a repeat of the week before when she'd had a sixty pound dog jump on her to wake her up. The twins playing horse on her back tumbled off, landing in the soft plush covers Mai had previously been snuggled down in. At the foot of the bed, Rex, their albino German Shepard, peered over the wood, her tongue lolling out and her tail moving at warp speed. "Don't even think about it," she threatened the animal with a stern look before turning her eyes to the twins, pushing her shoulder length hair out of her face, "Have you two eaten yet?"

The twins' faces scrunched in displeasure. "Papa tried to make breakfast," they glanced at each other with identical expressions, "but he gave up when it started to burn. For the third time."

Mai let out a breathy laugh. Oh, her poor dishes. They could never get a break whether it was by Naru's cooking or the twins concocting something in them. She looked over the pair. They were still in their night clothes which easily told her that they hadn't been up for more than thirty minutes. She still might have been able to salvage the kitchen situation. "Alright, let me get dressed and then I'll make breakfast. You two should go get ready as well."

"Okay!" they called, sliding from the covers and exiting the room on a burst of speed, Rex on their tail.

"Remember to put on something warm! It's supposed to snow today!" she called after them. She only received a bark in reply from the dog.

Mai shook her head. "I'm already drained," she mumbled, but a smile was curving her lips. Sliding from the bed more slowly than the spunky pair, she padded over to the dresser and amour she shared with her narcissistic boss. She stared into her open drawers, her lips pursed in consideration, until strong arms wrapped around her, pinning her arms to her sides. "Good morning, Naru," she murmured, her smile small and happy, "Did you sleep well?" No reply came.

"Naru?" she murmured, fear slipping into her voice. Something was very, very wrong. The warmth that seeped through her clothes was not the same that she slept beside on a nightly basis. The kiss that pressed to the back of her neck was not the soft, pleasure seeking kiss she knew so well. The scent that swirled past her nose was not that of black tea and musk, but more of an earthy smell. "Who are you?"

"The person you've been running from," the man whispered, his voice oh so very familiar, and the most terrifying thing she could think off.

Mai's eyes grew wide. Slowly, she turned her head just enough to glimpse her captor. Brown-green eyes and pearly white teeth grinned down at her. The scream the bubbled up from her chest was not only one of fear, but also one of outrage. She thrashed in his arms, trying to release herself. She stomped down on the instep of his foot. He groaned angrily, tightening his hold around her.

"Mai!" Naru shouted, slamming the door open.

Ash dissolved into mist, grinning back at the man who acted as her protector, his grip dissolving. She slumped to the floor, shivering and drained. Naru had his arms around her in moments, pulling her against his chest. This was the man whose warmth, smell and touch she knew so perfectly. She relaxed easily into his embrace, the fear already dissipating.

"Mai, are you alright? What was that?" Naru asked, running his fingers through her hair gently.

Mai nodded shakily, holding tightly to his arm. "I think we forgot to lock the doors," she whispered, laughing breathlessly.

Trust Mai to try and make light of a really bad situation. Typical Mai. Naru rolled his eyes, pulling her to her feet. "I think, we need to have Lin make some charms," he replied, setting her on the bed.

"I think, we should get to the office before our clients do so we can take a case and get away from hell hole before **he** shows up again," she suggested hopefully, grinning up at him.

"Get dressed. We'll leave as soon as we've eaten," Naru said, moving out the door.

"And get food poisoning in the process from your cooking?" Mai called after him playfully, wishing he hadn't just left her alone in a room Ash had appeared in. She watched his back as he left, considering jumping up and pulling him back into the room so she could molest him. She let off another laugh at her own thought, shaking her head. She wouldn't call or pull him back. If this was going to be an ongoing thing, she needed to learn to deal with it.

Naru scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Daddy!" Kamin and Tamaki shouted happily, running towards the room. He caught the twins around their waists as they ran past, hoisting them over his shoulders. They squealed happily, kicking their legs and reaching for Mai.

"Come on, Mai has to get dressed," Naru said, marching off towards their room, "And so do the two of you."

"No!" Kamin shouted indignantly, wriggling viciously, "Mommy, save us!"

"Sorry, sweeties, can't do anything in my jammies," Mai called, grinning and waving to them. She jumped up, pulling on her clothing and hurrying to the kitchen before Naru could get there, though he wouldn't be out for a while. Sometimes, it took and arm and a leg to get the twins dressed. If they didn't want to do something, they'd make it a living hell to do anything.

Mai glanced over her shoulder, checking for little naked children and her boyfriend. She almost screamed as she turned to find a tall Chinese man –aka Lin- standing over the stove. Sliding into a chair, she dropped her face into her hands. "Jesus Lin, you just scared the holy hell out of me."

"Sorry," he mumbled apologetically, shrugging, "You weren't answering the door so I picked the lock, then I saw that mess and decided to take over." He waved his hand towards the trashcan where a horrid smell was wafting towards her.

Mai rubbed her nose, giggled. "Another one of Naru's failed creations. I really need to take his cooking license away," she murmured contemplatively, stroking her chin before grinning at Lin.

"You should have done that they day you moved in," Lin replied, smiling wryly at her.

Mai laughed. "Maybe I should just take his man card all together."

Lin smirked. "You took that the day you started standing up to him, and he started to crush on you."

"Aw, you're making me blush. Thanks for the compliments," she said, grinning widely. Rubbing her hands together, she jumped to her feet. "So let's get breakfast done then so we can get to the office," she said enthusiastically.

Lin shook his head. "When you start getting excited about work, then I know we're in for something bad…" He trailed off, pulling plates from the cupboards. "Have you had any dreams as of late? How has Tamaki been doing with her practicing?"

Mai glanced at him, her mood slowly plummeting. "She's been being really diligent about it. Every night she sits with Naru and goes through her exercises. Both Tamaki and me though… we've both been having dreams, and not good ones or ones that'll be any help. They're all of old cases except…" She trailed off, thinking of the dream she'd had recently.

"Yes?" Lin pushed, watching her out of the corner of her eye.

Mai shook her head. "No, no, it's fine. It's nothing." Before Lin could push any more, Kamin burst into the kitchen in a blue dress and black tights. "Oh, Kamin, you look adorable."

She grinned widely. "Daddy picked it out for me. Isn't it pretty, Uncle Lin?"

Lin nodded, trying not to laugh. "Very," he coughed.

Mai and he exchanged looks. "Naru has very good fashion sense," she giggled, her hand pressed to her mouth, "Should I be worried?"

"Very, very worried," Naru whispered in her ear. For some reason, he sounded a little bit gay. She couldn't take it. She burst out laughing, clamping her arms around her middle. She was laughing so hard, in fact, that she fell to the ground and began rolling around. Tamaki laughed, dropping on top of her. Kamin climbed atop them, feeling left out.

Rolling his eyes once more, Naru started setting the plates on the table. "Let's eat."

**Hope the first chapter was sufficient enough! I'm hoping to get the next up by tomorrow or maybe Saturday, but I'm going to start working at the Commissary on the weekends this Saturday so we'll see. Well, tell me what ya'll thought of this chapter, yeah? See ya' soon!**

**P.S.- I've got a Sherlock one-shot coming your way for those of you who watch the BBC version. I'll be posting the link on my profile when I'm finished. I don't want to chance it being taken down so it'll only be available on Tumblr.**


	2. Chapter 2: The Male Hoard

**I am so sorry for this piece of crap, guys.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt or Kuroko no Basuke.**

Chapter 2: The Male Hoard

"Mai!" Monk shouted happily, enveloping the smaller girl in a huge bear hug, crushing her to his chest.

The air exited her lungs in a huge gust, leaving her gasping. "Hi Monk, can't breathe," she gasped, her fingers twitching as they searched for the oxygen she couldn't find.

He grinned sheepishly, letting her slide to the floor. "Sorry, I was just so excited to see you. Haven't seen you in what? 2 months? Not since the wedding anyway. I missed you, my daughter," he cooed, ruffling her hair, "And how are my favorite twins?" He turned, opening his arms wide and letting the twins barrel into them.

"Oh, get off it!" Ayako shouted from across the room, struggling into a chair, her very pregnant belly hindering her flexibility. She couldn't tie her shoes anymore without help. "You've got your own daughter on the way."

"But Mai was my first daughter," he whined, standing while still holding the twins. They squealed happily, swinging from his muscles. Ayako rolled her eyes at the idiocy of her husband, rubbing a hand down her stomach. She dropped her eyes to her stomach, watching the foot of her child push against her hand.

"Mai, darling!" Yasu shouted, dropping down on Mai with a monster bear hug, lifting her and spinning her in a circle.

"Hi, Yasu!" she shouted back just as happily, choking him out as she tightened her arms around his throat. "You shouldn't do that. You nearly scared the ever living shit out of me," she ground out, smiling.

"Sit down and shut up," Naru ordered from his office, leaning against the door jamb watching the mayhem with bored eyes. The twins grinned, shaking their heads, still swinging from Monk's biceps.

"No can do, Naru-bou. I'm entertaining the kiddies," Monk replied, hoisting the pair up higher. He grinned, spinning around. "Which is your job by the way."

Naru rolled his eyes, turning back to disappear into his office when Lin grabbed his arm, turning him back to the sitting area. "Look after your children like a good parent," he chided before disappearing into his own office.

"Hypocrite," Naru muttered under his breathe, but dutifully dropped down into his chair and allowed Kamin to crawl into his lap. She squeezed onto the leftover cushion beside him, grabbing his hand and making it into an animal. Then she started fighting it with her own hand while making dragon noises.

"Who wants tea?" Mai called. She received shouts of "Yes!" from all around the room, the most enthusiastic coming from her pregnant coworker. Grinning, she quickly made a pot, setting tea cups full of steaming amber liquid in front of each of her friends starting with Ayako. "Always be nice to pregnant women even if you don't want to," Mai instructed Tamaki, passing the cups out one at a time.

"Why?" he asked, looking up at her with questioning eyes.

"Because they're making a baby, another little life," she said.

"Ooooh," he said, staring with fascination at Ayako before returning his eyes to Mai, "Are you pregnant?"

Mai and all of the other, including Naru, choked on the sip of tea they'd just taken. "Not that I know of," she coughed, rubbing at her forehead.

Sighing, she plopped down on the couch to Naru's right. Tamaki immediately made himself comfortable in her side, opening a book across his knees. They were quiet for a few precious moments, listening to Monk and Yasu argue over what Masako and John were doing, and Ayako tapping the keys of her cell, before the little troublemaker curled in Mai's side decided to as another question. "When are the people going to be here, Mom?" he asked, leaning his head against her shoulder.

All activity came to a grinding halt around them, but they didn't even notice. "I don't know. Whenever they want to, I guess. It's really up to them. It is kind of early though, so it might be a while," she explained, dropping her chin into her hand with her elbow on her knee.

"Woah, woah, woah, hold the phone! When did he start calling you 'mom'?" Monk asked, his eyebrows making close friends with his hairline.

Mai startled, staring at him with wide eyes. "Oh, um, this morning mostly, but they've been switching between my name and 'mom' for about a month now," she explained, pursing her lips and staring up at the ceiling.

"She has infiltrated!" Yasu and Monk cried together, throwing up their hands at the exact same moment.

Mai couldn't tell if that had been planned and rehearsed, but when they glanced at each other and broke down laughing, she knew it hadn't. She let the giggles contained in her chest bubble up, breaking through her lips as full-fledged laughter.

"Woah, it's really loud in here isn't it? Hey, this is Shibuya Psychic Research, right?" a female voice asked accompanied with the ringing of the doorbell.

Mai, Monk and Yasu tried to pull their laughter back in, but every time they went quiet, they'd burst out laughing only seconds later. Tears gathered in the corners of Mai's eyes as her sides began to ache. "Sorry, sorry," she gasped, waving at the group standing in the doorway.

They weren't paying any attention to the three laughing idiots though. "You idiot, why would even you ask that? It's right there on the door. Are you stupid or something?" the teen wearing thin glasses and sporting choppy black hair snapped at the girl in front with short, brownish red hair.

"Hey! I am still your coach!" she shouted back at him, shoving her finger in his face menacingly.

"Come on, you two, calm down. We came here to ask for help, not to get in each other's junk," yet another teen, taller than the rest with chocolate brown hair coaxed, dropping his hands down on their shoulders.

"Stay out of this, Kiyoshi!" the pair shouted together, glaring up at the taller teen.

"We aren't making a very good first impression. I'm sorry for the way my teammates are acting," a boy with strikingly ice blue hair murmured, bowing to Naru from where he stood behind Ayako.

She nearly jumped from her seat. "When and how did you get there?" she shouted in surprise, staring back at him with wide eyes.

They boy began to explain, pointing towards the door, but a huge hand dropped down on his head causing him to hunch slightly. The new male was definitely over six feet tall, just as tall as or taller than Lin. He had a mop of red hair that ended in black tips, and eyebrows that split off into two points. "Yeah, sorry about that. Kuroko does that a lot," the literal red head who could give Ayako a run for her money apologized, scratching the back of his head.

Mai, Monk and Yasu couldn't help but laugh harder at Ayako's predicament. They slid from their seats to the floor, slowly dying of laughter. She struggled to her feet, glaring daggers at her friends and husband.

Naru nodded to the blue haired teen, ignoring the two red-heads, his eyes burning with annoyance. "My employs are not making a nice first impression either," he replied, glaring at the three slowly crawling away to make room for the visitors.

A group of loud, rowdy boys crowded through the door into the space that made up the reception/interview area of the SPR office. It had never felt so packed. It seemed as if every square inch of space was filled by someone. Ayako, claustrophobia winning her over, took refuge in the kitchen, nursing a cup of tea she'd snagged from the tray before hiding.

"I'll get more tea," Mai choked out, snatching up the tray.

"I can help with that," Kuroko offered, but Mai turned the tray out of his reach.

"No, I've got it. Thank you though. You should stay in here for the interview," she replied kindly, smiling widely. As she waited patiently for the water to boil and attempted to figure out how many cups she needed to scrounge up, Naru began the questioning. She sat across from Ayako, giving herself the ability to glance around the door and see what exactly was going on.

The red-head had her head down on her arms, probably catching a small cat nap before they had to actually start doing anything. She was about two months outside her due date. Mai silently wondered why she even bothered getting up in the mornings.

…..

"My name is Riko Aida. I coach the Sieren High School basketball team. These guys make up part of the team," the female with the reddish-brown hair started, waving at the group of boys currently milling about the office.

Lin typed away at his computer, glancing up at the group with watchful eyes. "Why did you come to us?" Naru asked, his eyes glancing around at the teens every few seconds. He didn't feel as if they were any harm, but as a general rule, he didn't trust new acquaintances. He had Kamin and Tamaki tucked into his sides in his chair. Somehow, he still managed to look professional with two five-year-olds clinging to him.

"Well, you see, there've been strange things happening in our gym for a while now. It's nowhere else on campus, just our gym," Riko explained confidently, sitting straight in her chair.

"And you think it's a haunting?" Naru stated, leaning back in his chair. He didn't miss the way Tamaki went rigid beside him or how Mai peaked around the doorframe of the kitchen curiously. He slid his arm protectively around the boy's shoulder, pulling him closer into his side. "Strange things happen everywhere that can be explained by the simple settling of the building, the shifting of belongings, or electrical issues."

"Well, yeah, we all thought that at first…" Riko began, but another member of her team piped up, cutting her off. She shot a scathing glare towards him.

"Honestly, has anyone thought that maybe it's just Kuroko doing his creepy disappearing act?" the boy asked, "I mean, Aomine and the others thought he was a ghost haunting their gym before they found out it was just him." He looked kind of like a puppy which had Mai giggling all over again. She ducked back into the kitchen, snatching up the teapot as it began to scream.

A sharp slap echoed through the room, causing Mai to flinch in surprise and Ayako jolt upright. Mai hurried back out into the office where everyone had paused in shock. The teen wearing glasses had taken the initiative and given the other puppy faced teen a brain duster. "You don't think we've already thought of that, Koganei? You were there for the conversation, though you probably don't remember it because you were stuffing your face!"

"What?" Koganei asked stupidly, confusion twisting his features from where he was slurping down the tea Mai had just brought out. She laughed lightly, grinning at the teen.

"I think you better listen or you're going to get hit again," she advised, refilling his cup before taking the tray to the coffee table. The teen just shrugged, following after her. "We may both get hit," she whispered conspiratorially.

"I do not hit my employs," Naru shot at her, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees, watching her intently.

"Not when clients are around to see," Monk called from the corner, grinning. Laughter went up around them, joined by the SPR team members that were present, save Naru and Lin, and the group of teens that had invaded their office.

Naru waited until the laughter had abated. "What are the occurrences?" he asked, rubbing at his forehead tiredly. He just wanted all these loud, rowdy males out of his office including half of the females. For once, Ayako wasn't the one giving him the headache. Lin shot him a sympathetic look, his fingers paused over the keyboard.

Riko cleared her throat, glaring at the members of her team with a look that clearly said, 'Shut up or die'. "Just little things mostly right now. Tricks that could have been pulled off by anyone, except for the fact that we videotaped the doors for three days in a row, and no one ever turned up, but all of my team's shoes were tied together and left in the middle of the gym floor. It took us two hours to untangle them all which are two hours we can't afford. We have a tournament coming up and we can't practice well if we're getting pushed down on the court during practice and itching powder is being dumped in our shoes."

Naru sighed, ruffling his hair. He glanced under his arm at Mai surreptitiously, allowing her to make the decision. She nodded almost imperceptibly, her lips pressed tight. She rubbed her hands against her thighs agitatedly when only moments before she'd been so carefree. Naru ran his hand back through his hair, pushing it back into place. "Fine, we'll take the case. We'll be there once you've cleared the investigation with your principal," he sighed, standing and making his way to his office with the twins in tow.

The team started to cheer, jumping all over each other. "Thank you!"

Mai was wrapped in a tight hug by at least half of the boys all at the same time. She laughed, wiggling her legs from how high she was. She was higher than ever, even compared to when Monk lifted her from the ground. She was dropped back, and the male hoard began to filter out, loud and delighted by their coach's success.

Two hands dropped on Mai's shoulders at the same time. Riko and Kuroko glanced at each other. "Give your boss our thanks please. He left before we could do it properly," Riko asked, smiling, turning and heading off before Mai could give her a proper answer.

"Thank you," Kuroko said as he watched his coach walk away.

"For what?" Mai asked, looking over at him.

"For convincing Mr. Shibuya. The others didn't see, but I did, so thank you," he said with a small smile. He turned and hurried to the door where the tall red head waited. They both waved to her, letting the door slam shut behind them.

Monk and Yasu bounded towards her, grinning widely. "They like you," they chimed in unison. Mai rolled her eyes.

**Well, there you have it, the next chapter. I swear to all that is holy that it took me more than a week to write this thing and I have no idea why. Anyway, it's up. I'm hoping the next chapter will be easier to crank out. I think it might have something to do with the amount of characters I've decided to attempt to take on. This is going to be interesting -_-**

**I'll explain the whole Ayako-Monk-being-married-fiasco and how that came to be, maybe, sometime, I mean, it hasn't even been a year in the story. Only if you guys want me too though :P**

**P.S.- My Sherlock fic is now officially underway. I hope to have it to you by next week at the latest. I haven't started the newest C is for Change fic, but I'm sure I can whip something up for you guys. After that, I have another Hetalia fic that I actually have to proofread and post. Lots to do.**


	3. Chapter 3: Lost

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt**

Chapter 3: Lost

"Taniyama-san!" a male voice called as she made her way through the school, searching for the gym. She and Tamaki had gotten split from the rest of the group when a mass of students had passed in front of them, obscuring their view of the team for little more than five minutes. Now, their being lost had stretch from five minutes into twenty.

Mai turned in the direction of the voice. The puppy faced teen, Koganei, waved to her, grinning widely. He ran beside the blue haired teen, Kuroko, and the red-headed teen. "H-Hi! Are you going to the gym?" she called back, watching them slow to a stop. "Come on, Tamaki," she told the boy at her side, and hurried to the trio.

"Yeah, we're circling back around. Were you looking for it?" the red-head asked, beginning to walk in the direction the three had been jogging.

Koganei fell into step beside Mai while Kuroko stood at the red-head's side. "Um, yeah. We kind of got split up from the rest of the team, and got lost. My school was never really this big, and the layout is completely different," she laughed nervously, clutching the box of monitors close to her chest.

The three started, looking at her. "How old **are** you?" Koganei asked, his eyes a little wide.

"Um, I'm only twenty. I graduated a few years back," Mai explained with a smile. It always made her laugh how young people still thought she was.

"How old is Shibuya-san?" Kuroko asked while his other two companions gave each other wide-eyed glances.

"He's twenty-two. I've been working for him since I was fifteen. Wow, it's been five years since my first case. That's kind of incredible," Mai said to herself, looking towards the sky that was beginning to grow dark with storm clouds, "Do you think it's going to rain?"

Kuroko followed her eyes up, scanning the sky. "It might."

"Hopefully not before practice ends," the red-head interjected.

Koganei groaned, "Last time Riko made us run in the rain, I got sick because she didn't let us dry off before drilling us." The two teens hung their heads in defeat, already resigned to what would await them when the first rain drop fell.

Mai looked between the three. "Um, I didn't catch your name," she suddenly said, looking towards the red-head.

He glanced over his shoulder at her, saying, "Ah, sorry. My name's Kagami. You'll learn our names easy enough, if you stick around long enough."

"Kagami, Kuroko, Koganei! You better get your lagging asses in here before I make you do ten more circuits around the school!" Riko shouted from around the building, pulling their attention to the corner. She poked her around the corner, a scowl on her face. She split into a grin when she noticed the pair they were escorting. "Taniyama-san! We were wondering when you were going to get here. The others arrived more than twenty minutes ago. These idiots haven't been bothering you have they?" She shot the three teens death glares.

"No, no, they were helping me find this place. I got lost," Mai explained, grinning abashedly.

Naru appeared behind Riko, raising an eyebrow at her, and Kamin poked her head around his legs, grinning widely at the sight of her twin. "Mai, are you that inept at following directions? Hurry up. You're moving slower than usual, and we need to get set up," he shot at her, disappearing as she opened her mouth to growl back at him.

"Tamaki, come on! This place is soooo big! And they're going to teach us how to play basketball!" Kamin called to him excitedly.

A grin split over Tamaki's face. "Really?" he asked as he ran towards her.

"Yeah!" she shouted, grabbing his hand and dragging him into the building.

Riko stood in the doorway, glaring at the three teens with her hands on her hips. "I should make you do another round of warm-ups for moving so slow," she began, earning groans from the boys, "But we've got to practice, then we have two little kids to entertain for a while. Get in there and get on a team. We're starting with a faux game."

"Yes, Coach!" the three called, ducking into the gym just as the first drops splattered on the top of Mai's head. She let out a cry of surprise, bolting into the sanctuary of the building. Riko followed after her, grinning.

"Thanks for entertaining the twins," Mai told Riko, grinning as she watched the twins chase the ball around the edges of the court, watching it pass from hand to hand faster than a hummingbird in a flower field.

"No problem," Riko replied before turning to her team, "Alright, you pansies, let's step things up a notch!" Mai watched the other female direct her team before she heard Ayako shouting to her.

"Hey, Mai! Took you long enough! Where have you been?" Ayako called from a side room. She sat in a chair outside the door, her hands cradling her rounded stomach. Her eyes flicked back and forth, watching the players pass and dribble the ball up and down the court.

Mai hurried over, scowling at the red-headed miko. "I got lost because **some** people decided to leave me alone. Kamin and I were lost for twenty minutes!"

Ayako shrugged. "Not my problem. I'm pregnant. I have an excuse not to wait."

"No, you have an excuse to be lazy, which brings to question. Why are you here? Shouldn't you be at home lounging on the couch and icing your swollen feet?" Mai asked just a little bit scathingly, setting the box she'd been carrying on the table just inside the door.

The boys had managed to put together most of the base. They only needed to set up the monitors at that point. It wasn't getting done because Monk and Yasu had started playing a game of "War", and Lin and Naru were readjusting the wires around the back of the table.

"I'm here because I've been doing that for the past two weeks. It was time to get out of the house," Ayako explained, rubbing a hand down the center of her belly, "I didn't want to be left out either." She shrugged.

"Mai, get in here," Naru commanded.

Sighing, Mai poked her head around the doorjamb. "Yes, oh powerful one. What can I help you with on this stormy evening?" she asked sarcastically.

"I need you to start setting up monitors," he told her, holding a handful of wires in one hand.

"Couldn't you get **them** to set them up?" she asked, looking towards Monk and Yasu, "I wanted to go play with Kamin and Tamaki for a while."

"You can do that after we get Base set up. Though after this, I want you to take a walk through with Monk of any rooms in the building and take temperature readings," Naru told her, sliding a monitor onto a shelf and beginning to plug in cords, "Riko-san's team members will keep the twins busy for now."

Mai pouted, pulling a monitor to her front and sliding it onto the shelf beside Naru's. They worked in silence for a long moment. The smell of the room slowly began to make itself known to Mai the longer she set up. She sniffed the air, wrinkling her nose in distaste.

"What's that face for?" Naru asked, pushing the third to last monitor onto the top shelf.

"It smells like teenage angst and depression," she commented, plugging in the cords to the monitor. All movement stopped around her, and she looked around at the faces her teammates were giving her. "What?" Naru looked away with an amused chuckle while Ayako, Monk, and Yasu broke down.

Mai puffed out her cheeks indignantly, glaring at them.

**Yeeeeaaaah… So, I had to more or less force this chapter out of my system because as of right now, I'm wrung out in the imagination department for Ghost Hunt fics. The next chapter will probably be up around Wednesday or so, hopefully. We'll see how things go.**

**P.S.- Happy late Independence Day! and Happy late Canada Day!**


	4. Chapter 4: Reluctance

**Yeah… just yeah... I don't even want to talk about this crap chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! Except for the cute babies.**

**Warning!: Unedited so have fucking fun!**

Chapter 3: Reluctance

"The beds are so bouncy!" Tamaki and Kamin shouted together, jumping around from one full-size mattress to the one next to it. They giggled, holding each other's hands.

Naru growled from the small table in their room. "Kamin! Tamaki! Stop jumping on the bed!" he snapped, shooting them a glare that they were immune to. They turned to him, still grinning. He sighed, rubbing circles into his forehead. "Kamin, you should be in the girl's room with Mai and Ayako."

"But I don't wanna," the little girl whined back at him, dropping to the blankets and crawling under the covers. Tamaki stood next to the lump that was his twin, staring down at her with a look of contemplation.

"Then you can stay here, but you need to **go to bed**," Naru told her sternly. He watched silently as Tamaki dropped to the bed and crawled under the covers with her. They were silent for a long moment, and Naru believe for a second that they actually may be going to sleep, then they started to giggle.

Sighing once more, he got up as silently as possible, ignoring the stares of Monk and Yasu playing another card game on the floor and Lin on the other bed. They watched him just as silently as he kneeled by the side of the bed the twins were closest to. "Do you know what happens to little boys and girls who don't go to bed when they're told?" he asked, snaking his hands beneath the blankets and standing slowly as he got closer and closer to the twins.

"They get tickled to death by the Tickle Monster! Gotcha!" he shouted as he grasped their ankles and dragged them onto the top of the blankets. Their screeching laughter filled the room as his hands locked onto their sides, tickling them mercilessly. The laughter of the rest of the members occupying the room joined that of the twins.

"We're sorry, Tickle Monster! We're sorry!" the twins gasped, their cheeks red from laughing.

"Are you going to go to sleep now?" Naru asked hopefully, hovering over the two, hands held out, ready to attack again.

"Not until Mommy tells us goodnight," they replied. Scrambling from the bed to stand by the door, they watched him expectantly.

"Fine," Naru consented, sliding from the bed. He opened the door for them, allowing them to rush out into the hallway.

Yasu waited until the door had been shut firmly to speak. "Those kids have him wrapped around their little fingers, just like Mai. They learn so quickly," he commented, grinning fondly and chuckling.

"Naru probably won't be coming back to the room tonight so you might as well lock the door," Monk spoke up, glancing over his shoulder to where Lin sat cross-legged on the bed, his laptop open across his knees. '_I wonder if he's blogging_,' he thought, watching as Lin just continually kept pressing the scroll down button.

"Why wouldn't he come back?" Lin asked, looking up from whatever he was doing on the computer.

"Ayako went home early because the kid was killing her. I forgot to tell Naru," Monk explained, slapping a card down on the well-worn carpet.

Lin sighed, standing. He closed his laptop, shoving it under his arm. "I'm going to get something to drink," he muttered as way of explanation and disappeared from the room.

The pair stared after him for a long, silent moment. "We really need to get his laptop and check his browsing history."

"I bet he has a Tumblr account," Yasu muttered in passing.

…..

Mai flopped back on her bed, her phone pressed close to her ear. "No, Michiru, everything is fine. I don't understand why every time I call you, you think something is wrong. Can't I just call you?"

'_Well, sure, but come on. I haven't talked to you for a couple months now. It's like you disappeared of the face of the planet_.'

"That's because I was really busy and trying to learn how to take care of Tamaki and Kamin with Naru. It was a really time consuming cause Naru's not normally a people person."

'_I don't know where you even got that idea! He was really social when he was at the school the first time_.'

Mai sighed loudly, turning onto her stomach. "Michiru, how many times do I have to explain that to you? He was acting. He puts on a show when he wants something."

The girl on the other line scoffed. '_Whatever you say, but, no, seriously, why did you call me? It's not like you to call without a reason_.'

"Well, Ayako went home so I have the room to myself."

'_Where are the twins? Aren't they with you guys?_'

"Yeah, but there in the other room annoying the hell out of Naru," Mai replied, giggling.

Michiru laughed. '_And your just gonna leave him to fend for himself aren't you_?'

"Of course! What do you take me for?"

'_A sadist_.'

"Oh come on, I'm not that bad," Mai laughed, sitting up as someone knocked at her door. She rolled to her feet, and peaked out the peep whole.

'_Yes you are!_' Michiru protested, laughing.

Mai rolled her eyes, unchaining the door. "Hey, Michiru, I've got to go. Someone is at the door. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

'_Oooh, late night booty call_,' Michiru crowed.

"Bye, Michiru," Mai said, ending the call as she opened the door to Naru and the twins. The twins rush in, wrapping their arms around her legs.

Naru closed the door as Mai staggered over to the bed, collapsing on it. She grinned down at the twins. "Hey, you guys. What are you doing? I thought you were sleeping in the boys' room tonight."

"We wanted to say goodnight," they called up to her, keeping their faces buried in her legs.

"They refused to go to bed until you said goodnight," Naru explained, his eyes scanning the room, "Where did Ayako go?"

"She went home early because the baby was getting rough, and her feet were really hurting her. I thought Monk said he was going to tell you," Mai said, rolling around on the bed with the twins. They leaped over her, making a game out of her rolling.

"We should all sleep in here together!" Kamin decided.

Naru shook his head, snatching up Tamaki as he moved to jump over Mai again. "We can't, this is the girls' room."

"Pleeeeeaaaaassssssse," the twins pleaded. Tamaki strained to reach Mai and Kamin wrapped her arms tightly around Mai's waist.

"Come on," Mai said, grinning and hugging Kamin to her, "I think it'll be fine. I've got the room to myself, so might as well. They're not going to sleep if we don't agree anyway." She shrugged her shoulders.

Naru sighed, running his hand through his hair. "Fine," he consented.

**Yeah, so… not too proud of this chapter, but I had no idea what to do, so here you go. I'm thinking of throwing in some ghosty activity next chapter. This should be a relatively short case since it won't be too hard to figure out. I'm just trying to come up with a way to incorporate a certain someone in, 'cause I had a plan at the beginning and now I'm not too sure. We'll see I guess.**


	5. Chapter 5: Invaded

**I'd like to dedicate this chapter to my beautiful and fantastic reader, **Ghost loves Japan 77**, who gave me the idea for the dream in this chapter. Love ya, darling! Thank you so much!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt**

Chapter 5: Invaded

"Well, today was quiet," Monk commented, spinning lazily in one of the office chairs that had been brought in by the basketball team for their use, "If the entire case is going to be like this, I'm just going to go home."

"You're welcome to leave whenever you please. I don't need you here at this point anyway," Naru shot at him, not even glancing up to glare at the tall man. He flipped through a book that had a dark slip covering the title of the book. Monk wasn't entirely sure if it had anything to do with the case.

Mai and Monk rolled their eyes together, looking at one another. "Nooooo," Kamin whined from her seat in Mai's side, "If Monk left I'd be very sad. He plays basketball with me and Tamaki."

Monk grinned, ruffling her hair. "Don't worry, youngster, I'm not going anywhere any time soon."

"That is until your wife goes into labor," Yasu commented idly, tapping away at the laptop he had open across his knees. He paused in what he was doing, attaching his hand to the mouse and scrolling down at warp speed.

"We are **not** going to be on this case that long," Monk replied firmly.

"How would you know?" Yasu taunted.

"Because my wife still has another two months before she gives birth."

"It's called a premature birth."

"Don't even joke about that," Monk warned.

The pair was just getting ready to begin an all out bloodbath when Kuroko and Koganei poked their heads around the doorway. They were sticky and red-cheeked, still sweating from their practice. "We're done with practice," Kuroko explained, "We can play with Kamin and Tamaki now."

The twins screamed in excitement, bolting from the room and into the crowd of sweaty teens in two seconds flat. Kuroko followed after them, jabbing Kagami in the side as he walked past, sending the much taller man to his knees.

Koganei watched him walk away before turning his eyes back to Mai. "You want to come play a game or two with us?"

Mai shook her head vigorously. "No, no! I'm terrible at sports!"

The puppy-faced teen laughed. "We won't be playing for real so chances are we'll end up on the ground just the same."

A small smile spread across her face. "Okay, sure. I'll try." She stood, hurrying out after Koganei, completely ignorant to the glare Naru was shooting viciously at him. He snapped his book shut, dropping it on the table with the monitors in annoyance.

"He's stealing your woman," Yasu joked, glancing up at his boss with a smirk, watching as Naru let that sink in. He was on his feet in seconds and out the door, leaning against the wall watching the twins and Mai toss the ball and trip around the court.

Mai laughed, grinning as she spun towards Naru. She waved her hands excitedly over her head, her cheeks already flushed a pretty pink. She gasped in surprise as she was lifted into the air by Kyoshi. He tossed her over his shoulder, parading her around the gym. The teammates lined up, waiting for Kiyoshi. She laughed hysterically, squealing as she was transferred from player to player, even tiny Kuroko's arms, headed for Koganei's arms.

"Put me down! Put me down!" Mai laughed, flailing around in their arms.

"But you're laughing!" one of the boys pointed out, passing her off again, this time to Kagami.

"I know, but-" Her words fell away and she stilled on Kagami's shoulder as she stared up at the railing circling above the gym floor. Leaning against the metal, Ash with his beautiful green and brown eyes smirked down at her. He twiddled his fingers in a wave. Tumbling into Koganei's arms, she went limp as her eyes clouded over.

Tamaki and Kamin ran up to her, their grins falling as they trailed over Mai and up to where Ash was just disappearing into the shadows. "Daddy!" Kamin screamed, taking off towards him, while Tamaki grabbed onto Mai's fingers. The young girl ran smack dab into Naru, latching onto his leg.

"Kamin?" he asked, snatching her up and hurrying towards the group. He shouldered into the middle, putting Kamin back on her feet, and grabbing Mai's face. "Mai! Mai! What happened to her?" He shot the question at the group as a whole, casting a glare around at the teenagers.

"We don't know! She was having fun and then just… collapsed!" Hyuga tried to explain.

"She was looking up there," Kuroko mumbled, pointing up towards the landing, "There was a guy wearing our uniform standing up there."

Naru ground his teeth, running his thumbs gently across Mai's cheekbones, her dull eyes cutting into him the longer they stayed like that. "Okay, Mai, it's time to come back. You don't have to let him control you. Come back," he murmured, pressing their foreheads together.

Slowly, but surely, Mai's eyes cleared and she wrapped an arm around Naru's neck. "Naru, I'm tired," she murmured, slipping into his arms. Her head lolled onto his shoulder, her eyes closing as she dropped off into the land of dreams.

…..

"_Mom, where are we?" Tamaki whispered, his voice trembling with fear. He was quaking, his small body shivering against Mai's side._

_Mai glanced around, her stomach dropping past her feet as realization hit. She swallowed thickly, pulling him closer into her side. "We're dreaming again," she told him truthfully, "But don't worry, I'll protect you." She felt nowhere near confident in her own words though. Something about this dream was off. She felt uneasy about their entire situation._

"_Mom, I don't like this," Tamaki whispered, trying to shrink into nothing at her side._

"_I don't either," she murmured, watching as the darkness melted away revealing the teen who had died. He leaned around the side of a building, watching two girls chatter on about the most mundane of topics._

_The teen snickered, whispering in a voice that rang with power. Mai couldn't hear the exact words he'd said, but when the girls suddenly stood and started to dance. They yelped in surprise, shouting that they couldn't control their bodies. The teen's grin widened and he burst into laughter. "Yes!" he cried triumphantly, "It works! I can actually do it!"_

_Mai stared at him wide-eyed. Had he just done what she thought he'd done? She watched him more sternly, straining her ears to hear ears to hear his whispers._

"_Now, I want you two to walk to the pool and jump in fully clothes," her murmured, watching them intently, and to Mai's horror, they did just as he had commanded. They burst from the freezing waters, sputtering and crying for help._

_Mai gasped aloud. "He had P.K.-L.T.?" she cried, looking down at Tamaki. He stared up at her, surprise in his young eyes. She turned back to the scene, more confused than ever. "I don't understand."_

"_Don't understand what?" Tamaki asked, looking up at her as the scene faded back to the black of their shared dreams._

"_If he had that much control over living creatures, why did he…?" she trailed off, not wanting to remind the 'Little Naru' of their last shared dream. Tamaki cocked his head at her, bemused. Mai was opening her mouth to reassure him, but a freezing wind swept over them._

_A cackling voice invaded her ears, "Do not think you are safe in your dreams, pretty flower. You are more vulnerable than ever," it gloated. The voice sounded vaguely familiar, but it was shadowed and mixed into that of a young woman's._

_The wind kicked up again, pushing against them, shoving them this way and that. Singing pain shot up Mai's arm. Looking down, she forced crimson liquid slipping down her skin. Pain erupted from multiple points on her body just as Tamaki cried out in pain._

_Dropping down, Mai covered Tamaki with her body, protecting him from as much of the attack as she could. "Wake up! Wake up! We need to wake up!" she shouted over the howling winds, concentrating on pulling themselves from their dream. Only nothing happened._

'Why? Why are we still here?_' she thought frantically, curling more securely around Tamaki._

"_You think you can escape?" the two-toned voice cackled, "Not so easily! Struggle harder for me!"_

"_Gene! Where are you?" Mai cried._

_No sooner had the words left her mouth was Gene beside her, shielding her from the on slot. "I'm so sorry. Something, or more rightly I think, someone was stopping me from contacting you," he told her, his mouth close to her ear, "Hold on. I'll get you out of here."_

…..

Mai and Tamaki gasped awake. She was curled around Tamaki, holding him close to her chest. Beside them, Kamin was attached securely to Naru's back like a baby monkey. They were knocked out, and would continue to be for the next couple hours. As far as Mai could tell, it was hours before dawn, around one in the morning.

"Mommy," Tamaki whispered miserably, pressing his face into her chest, crying softly into her shirt. Kamin shifted restlessly, her hand finding Tamaki's and curling around it.

"Shh, it's okay now," Mai whispered to him, stroking his hair lovingly, "They can't hurt us here with your dad and Kamin. You're alright."

Tamaki's small hand tightened in her shirt and around his twin's hand. "I'm scared."

"It's okay to be scared. That was scary, but you don't have to be when you're here with Daddy and Kamin, alright?" He nodded his head, the tears still coming fast. Eventually, he drifted back into a restless sleep, leaving Mai to fret over their safety on her own.

**Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Sorry that it was a little late. I know the last couple chapters have been really short, and this one isn't much better, but I'm trying to change that just for you guys. I hope this was better than the last couple (:**


	6. Chapter 6: Only Part of the Problem

**Disclaimer: I don't own Ghost Hunt**

Chapter 6: Only Part of the Problem

"Mai, what are those things on your arms? Are those cuts?" Naru asked, running a finger along the long horizontal slice adorning her arm. He frowned as she flinched, tracking his finger along the others covering her arms. "There's even some on your back. Where did they come from?"

She shivered as his fingers ran down her back, steering clear of those cuts. They stood under the weak spray of the hotel shower. Tamaki and Kamin were doing circles around them, playing a game through their legs. Mai let out a shaky sigh, trying to relax. "Last night, Tamaki and I had another dream," she began to explain, the dream coming back to her, "After the initial part… we were attacked. I don't know how. I don't know by who or what. I don't know why, but I do know that they broke into our dream. And that makes me very uncomfortable."

Naru cupped her face gently, staring at her eyes. "Is that why your eyes are red and there are bags under your eyes?" he asked, running the pads of his thumbs under her eyes.

"I was afraid to go back to sleep. Tamaki fell back to sleep though, so we won't have a tired six-year-old to deal with at least," she replied, smiling forlornly. All she really wanted to do was crawl back under the blankets with Naru and the twins, and hide from this case, but she knew that she couldn't do that.

"Did he get hurt?"

Mai had to think back, closing her eyes to visualize what had happened. She flinched when the sound of his cry rang through her head loud and clear. "He may have gotten cut across his arm and his cheek."

"Okay, I'll check up on him after we finish here and we get your cuts cleaned up," Naru decided, scrubbing his fingers through her short brown hair before she could say anything, causing white bubbles to erupt across her scalp, oozing through the soaked strands.

Mai sputtered, unprepared for the sudden washing attack. She tried to wash the suds from her hair quickly, dropping the shampoo onto Kamin's head where she stood behind Mai's legs. Over Kamin's cry of surprise, Mai protested, "No, clean his first, it'll be quicker. I'll be fine," trying to push Naru's hands away as he ran conditioner through her hair next.

"Well, then you can clean his injuries while I work on you," he compromised, pulling his hands back with a smirk as she viciously attempted to remove the slippery substance from her hair. "This shower is exceedingly too small for the four of us," he said as Kamin screeched again in protest as the slimy water from Mai's hair hit the top of her head. Tamaki peeked around Naru's legs, laughing at her.

"Yeah, I think it's just a little bit too small," Mai agreed, wiping the water from her eyes, "I guess that means we should hurry up and finish so that the others don't think we skipped out on them because it took us two hours to take a shower."

"Or before Monk and Yasu break into the room to see what we're doing," Naru said, beginning to wash his body, doing a quick once over. He traded Mai positions, standing under the brunt of the spray.

A horrified expression crossed Mai's face. "Don't even joke about that! That's a terrifying possibility! And they would do it too!" she cried.

Once the pair was completely clean, they worked on the twins that had been dodging waterfalls from the much taller pair. They were just having them wash off when they heard the door joining their rooms opening with a squeak and silently close.

"Daddy, who is that?" Kamin and Tamaki whispered, peeking their heads around the shower curtain.

"Your uncles. Maybe you should go greet them. Don't worry about towels, just go give them big hugs," Naru said, sliding the curtain back to allow them to clamber out.

They grinned, grasping the bathroom door handle and turning it. "Okay!" they called and took off into the room, letting the door slam shut, "Uncle Monk! Uncle Yasu!" The shouts of surprise that came from their intruders brought a grin to Mai's face and a smirk to Naru's.

"Mai! Naru! Get out here and get your children off of us!" Monk shouted, laughing as he was assaulted by what he amounted to two soaking monkeys. They were slowly being used as the little monkeys' towels to dry themselves.

Mai climbed out of the shower, pulling her fluffy blue towel towards her. "No, I think not! It's your own faults for breaking into our room!" she called back, picking up the piles of clothes for Tamaki and Kamin, and dropping them just outside the door, "I suggest you dress them if you don't want naked children rolling around on you."

"Don't leave us to these demons!" Yasu shouted, rolling off of the bed closest to the front door and onto the floor. He let out a cry of surprise mixed with pain as Kamin landed on his chest, giggling.

Before Mai could repeat what she'd already said, Naru pulled her back against his chest, silencing her with a kiss. "It's their own fault," he whispered to her, making her giggle.

"Ah, come on you guys!" Monk shouted, but they were being readily ignored.

…..

"You guys are nasty," Monk grumped, slouching low in one of the office chairs around the room. He sat on the very edge of his seat, enough that if someone nudged him forward a little bit more he'd slide right off. "I can't believe you did that and saddled us with the job of dressing Gene's demon spawn."

Naru had the book he'd been reading the day before splayed open on the monitor table, his hand pressing it flat. His eyes weren't on the pages though as he watched the monitors, keeping an eye on the teens milling around Riko who was shouting directions and game plans at them. He could hear every word she was shouting from the small room despite the door being firmly closed. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said too innocently, his eyes never leaving the monitors. Lin blinked over at his ex-charge, an eyebrow raised.

"Oh, come on, get off it. You know exactly what I'm talking about. Don't you try to get out of it either Mai. That was really not a cool thing to do at all," Monk shot at her, turning his eyes to Mai where she was pouring over one of the parapsychology books she'd abducted from Naru's bookshelves for her own entertainment.

Mai glanced up at him, raising an eyebrow in question before returning to the paragraph she'd been looking over. "I have no idea what you are talking about. I don't remember doing anything remotely nasty in the last few hours."

"Seriously, you two, just fess up. You two were still in the bathroom thirty minutes after letting the twins loose on us. We know what you were doing," Monk grumbled, sitting forward more. This time, Lin completely tore himself from his computer to give Mai and Naru a slow blink.

"I still have no idea what you mean," Mai replied, flipping the page, "We were in there because we were getting dressed and letting the twin's torture you for a little while. They did a good job of it too. Again, I remind you, it was your own fault." She dropped her chin into her hand, exhaling a gust of air.

"Mai and Naru were screwing. Mai and Naru were screwing," Yasu sang absently as he performed yet another card trick for Tamaki and Kamin.

Naru rolled his eyes, smirking in his mind. "No, we weren't. I don't know how long you last, but I enjoy taking my time," he told Yasu before turning to Mai, "Now, you haven't told us what those dreams you've had so far were about. Was there anything useful concerning the case in them?"

It was Mai's turn to roll her eyes. She looked up at him, a half smile curving her lips. They stared each other down until Naru motioned for her to speak.

"Can you say please like a good boyfriend?" she asked, raising her eyebrows at him.

Naru continued to stare at her, hoping his light glare would eventually cause her to just give up the information, but he had no such luck. It seemed that, for the most part, Mai was now immune to his glare. "Please," he said grudgingly, sitting back in his chair. A recording device that he hadn't notice retreated from where it'd been close to his face. He looked over and found Lin slipping the device into his pocket with a small smile for him. Naru sighed. Even his own guardian was more on his girlfriend's side than his.

"Sure," Mai said cheerily, grinning widely. She went through both of her dreams, explaining each in great detail. Since she hadn't had more than the two, she needed to help them syphon off as much information as they could. It wasn't a lot, but she hoped it would help at least a little bit.

Naru leaned back in his chair, pressing his fingertips together. "So, this teen had P.K.-L.T. This is a very surprising development," he murmured, tapping his fingers together, "But how is that going to help us with this case? There has to be something we're not seeing." He was talking to himself, ignoring the chatter of the others as he stared out the door someone had decided to open to the basketball courts. It was lunch and the gym was crowded with those who had nothing better to do.

"I think the ghost is trying to tell me something, but so far I haven't been able to figure out what," Mai told Lin, running her hands up and down her face, "I'm so confused, but I think this has something to do with Ash."

Frowning, Naru tried to unglue himself from his thoughts. He wasn't sure he'd heard Mai right. He turned his eyes to Mai, trying to focus on her conversation.

"Ash? That's the teenager you believe put the hex on you, correct? How do you believe that teen is connected?" Lin asked, turning and leaning forward in his chair, his eyes trained on Mai.

"I don't know, but he was there yesterday. I'm almost positive about that. And I think he was behind the attack in my dream last night. If he has enough power to hex me through an object, then I'm positive he has more than enough power to attack me through another person in my own dream," she explained, glaring angrily down at her clenched fists. She was sick and tired of this guy already. He'd been handsome and inspiring at first, and now she just wanted to punch out his teeth. '_If I only had more power_-' Shaking her head, she cut off her train of thought right there. She couldn't afford to start thinking like that, not when she had so much to protect now. She had so deal with what she had.

"Why do you believe he was behind the attack on your dream?"

"The voice I heard, it had two layers, and it sounded a little familiar. The more prominent voice was female with the undertone of a male voice. I think the other voice may have been Ash's," she explained.

"That still leaves the question of why he is here. Is there any possibility that he's connected to this ghost?" Lin asked, leaning forward even more. He could already tell that this case wasn't going to be as easy as they initially believed it'd be.

Mai's eyes turned up, catching Naru's. In that one singular moment, they had a silent conversation, one about their safety and how dangerous this case could truly become. She turned her eyes to Lin, answering honestly as the answer rang true in her chest, "Most definitely."

"Then we need to finish this case as soon as possible, and get the twins somewhere safe," Naru spoke up, standing and brushing invisible dust from his slacks.

"No!" Tamaki and Kamin cried together, glaring up at their father defiantly, "We don't want to leave."

"Well, I'm going to send you away whether you two like it or not. This is for your own safety," Naru told them sternly, not in the mood to play games. If their situation was going to turn into what he believed it'd turn into, he didn't want the twins there when it happened.

Mai stayed quiet, listening to the words echoing in her chest that would change Naru's mind the moment she uttered them. '_They'll be in more danger if they leave than they will be with us._' That truth scared her more than she wanted to admit.

**Okay, so I lied, I guess. Does the dream count as "ghosty activity"? Probably not, right? I swear, he will show up sometime soon though. We can just pretend like he's biding his time, yeah? Actually, that's exactly what he is doing. Anyway, how was it? See you in a couple days with the next chapter.**


	7. Chapter 7: Strangled

**Oh geez, you guys. I've started watching SnK/Attack on Titan and I'm finally caught up on all the episodes, but… I have become a hardcore Ereri shipper! I don't even know how it happened! I'm already thinking of fic ideas for the ship, and getting the itch to write. This is a very bad sign…**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Ghost Hunt**

**P.S. – I got lazy and its 1 am so this is unedited for the most part. If you find something blaringly ridiculous, just give me a shout and I'll fix it.**

Chapter 7: Strangled

"Naru," Mai murmured in the quiet of the Base, trying to catch his attention without fanning his angry flame back to life. After Monk and Yasu had herded the twins out into the gym to cool off and stop crying, Lin had decided to go check on a camera whose screen had gone snowy, leaving Naru to silently fume and rage in his head with her to keep him company.

"What?" he asked his tone sharper than it should have been seeing as she hadn't done anything this time to warrant his anger.

Puffing out her cheeks in indignation, she had to shove down her immediate knee-jerk reaction to snap back at him and instead took a deep breath. "You can't send the twins to Masako and John, Madoka, Ayako, or your parents," she said calmly, keeping her hands loose on her knees.

Naru spun towards her, glaring at her with an intensity that she hadn't seen in a while, not since their first case together. It sent her mind reeling with surprise, scattering her thoughts as her eyes went wide. "Why can't I? They aren't safe here, and we both know it. They're probably in more danger than either of us," he replied, his voice quiet, but still holding that icy bite that tore into her with every sentence.

Glancing down at the bandages wrapping both her arms, she was surprised to find that his tone hadn't left physical damage that she felt none-the-less. Rubbing the bandages, she glanced up at him through her bangs. "Yes, but do you really think they'll be safer somewhere else? Away from us? Do you really think that's protecting them?"

"You don't have trust in our co-workers and friends that they can keep them safe?" he asked, the anger and edge wavering just the slightest bit.

"I have complete trust in every single one of them. I'd trust them with my life and the life of the twins without a second thought, but by sending the twins to them, we'll be endangering them as well. I'm confident that Ash would have enough power to torment all of us even if we separated," Mai explained in one long breath, pausing to suck in air, "I just have this feeling that they'll be safer with us than they will be anywhere else. I don't want to take the chance when I'm getting screamed at."

"Screamed at?" Naru questioned, his eyebrows furrowing in slight confusion, "Who is screaming at you?"

"Oh." Mai had never really explained what her intuition felt like to her, that it felt like someone was whispering the correct answer in her ear. It was a bit more than a whisper this time though, making her feel like she had to trust it absolutely this time instead of just pushing it to the side like she'd done in the past. She pressed a hand to her chest. "Me, I guess."

Naru's brow smoothed out as understanding washed over him. He didn't enjoy not understanding something. Exhaling deeply out his nose, Naru massaged his forehead. "Alright, if you're sure, then I'll trust you. We'll keep the twins here with us, but any one of us has to be with them at all times. We cannot leave them alone under any circumstances."

Mai nodded. She stood, moving towards him. Taking his face in her hands, she kissed him first on the forehead and then kissed his lips gently. His hand moved up to rest on her hips, allowing himself to be kissed. "Thank you for trusting me," she whispered.

"I've always trusted you," he told her truthfully, guiding her mouth back to his for a longer kiss. It lasted until Monk and Yasu had to ruin the moment with their outrageous volume and bad timing, bursting through the doorway.

"Hey, you guys! We thought you might be doing something naughty so we decided to come back!" Yasu shouted, grinning widely at them with a digital camera in hand. He'd already gotten a picture before they could break apart, and snapped another as they both shot him scathing glares, still in very close proximity to one another. "Oooo, Madoka and Masako are going to love the pictures I've taken so far," he boasted happily, grinning widely.

Mai rolled her eyes. She made to take up the position she'd been holding for the past hour, but Naru pulled her back onto his lap, wrapping his arms securely around her waist. "Yasu, do you really think she's going to want to look at pictures? She's been in Australia for a month now. All she's going to be interested in is you undressed and sprawled across her bed."

Yasu waved of her comment, blowing a raspberry. "Pssh, don't be ridiculous. She's had John there. She'll be super interested."

Raising an eyebrow at the older male, she crossed her arms over her chest. "Oh, really now? I remember getting a call from her not too long ago saying how 'frustrated'," she made air quotes around the word, trying to emphasize the double meaning she'd attached to it, "she was, and complained to me for two hours about it. I have no idea where you got the notion that either of those two would ever lay a finger on each other. I guess you're stupider than I thought."

Yasu just shrugged in reply, grinning.

Monk dropped down in one of the swivel chairs, turning in a lazy circle. "Hey, where's Lin? Hasn't he come back yet? I saw him leave, but not come back so I just figured I missed him as he was leaving for a second time."

Naru and Mai frowned at each other. Had he come back? They sure didn't remember him ever coming back into the room. The screen for the camera he'd gone to fix was still fuzzy with static. "I don't know," Mai admitted, getting to her feet, "Where are the Tamaki and Kamin? Did you leave them with the team?"

"Yeah," Monk answered immediately, getting to his feet as he felt the tension in the room skyrocket, "They said they could keep them entertained until their lunch ended, which will be soon."

"Go get them. Keep them in here. Mai," Naru ordered. He didn't have to say anything more. They'd all been with him long enough to know what he'd order after those simple words. They four of them rushed from the room just as the bell signaling the end of lunch rang shrilly in the gym. Only, it didn't stop after a few seconds. The bell continued to ring, and ring, until it became deafeningly painful.

Tamaki and Kamin cried out, pressing their hands against their ears tightly. "Mommy! Daddy!" they screamed and it took all of both Mai's and Naru's will power not to go darting towards them.

"Monk! Yasu! Get everyone outside until the bell turns off! Once it does, bring Tamaki and Kamin into Base!" Naru yelled at them over his shoulder, trying not to turn completely. If he turned anymore, he'd just head straight for the twins and completely ignore the man that had acted as his guardian for many years.

"We'll be back as soon as we can!" Mai called after them, following just behind Naru, the alarm in her chest singing its warning as they entered a hallway. "Naru, be careful, please!" she shouted as she fell further and further behind her, unable to keep up with his pace. She received no reply, but she knew he'd heard her. He disappeared into a side corridor. Breathing sharply, Mai sucked in the largest breath she could and poured on the speed.

She slammed into his back as he rounded the corner, pitching him forward, but he stayed on his feet. "What did you stop for?" she began to ask, but her words fell away when she saw what had frozen him.

A shadowed, unfamiliar figure stood down the hallway, the overhead lights having burnt out, holding Lin high against the wall. It seemed to take no effort even as the Chinese man struggled with all his might. The figure was short, but with its arm fully outstretched, holding Lin as high up as it could manage, it was able to keep Lin from touching the floor. Only the tips of his shoes scraped at the dirty linoleum.

Lin's eyes skated over to them, the choking noises he was emitting increasing. He glared fiercely at them.

Taking a deep breath, Mai step forward, holding out her hand like Ayako had taught her so many cases ago. Shouting as loud as she could, Mai recited the mantra she'd been taught by the Miko and then switched over to the first one Monk had taught her.

The black figure slowly turned its eyes to her. Her words died in her throat. She felt as if it were staring right through her at her soul, assessing her worth and power. Unceremoniously, it dropped Lin in a coughing mass to the floor. Turning swiftly, it disappeared almost immediately into the darkness of the shadows.

"Lin!" Naru and Mai shouted, breaking from their surprise and stumbling towards the fallen Chinese man.

"Why didn't you use your shiki?" Naru spat angrily like a wounded cat, pulling Lin to his feet, stringing an arm over his shoulders.

Still trying to catch his breath, clutching loosely at his squashed windpipe, he wheezed, "Destroyed three of them. Couldn't call the other two in time."

Mai's blood turned to eyes in her veins. She met Naru's eyes, fear swirling through her entire being. This had just gotten ten times more serious.

…..

"What happened here?" Naru shouted in irritation as the trio exited the hallway into the gym only to find all of the monitors and equipment that had previously been in Base in the middle of the basketball courts. The bell had stopped its hideous shriek, leaving the large group of teens who had yet to return to their classrooms rubbing at their irritated ears. "Why the hell is all of our equipment out here? Someone explain this to me before I begin to make my own inferences!"

"We have no idea!" Monk defended immediately, staring at the pile in utter shock and confusion, "We left just like you told us, and only seconds after the door had closed, the bell stopped ringing. We waited for a few minutes, and when we came back in, **this** was waiting for us."

"It was the ghost," Riko explained, rubbing her arms in agitation as her eyes stayed locked onto the mound, "It likes to do this. It'll take everything from somewhere, for example, all of the lockers, and dump it right here. We don't know how it happens, but one moment, the courts will be clear, and the next, this will happen. It's one of the tricks the ghost likes to play. It hasn't done this in a while though."

"How long was this area empty?" Naru asked, eyes focused on the mountain of his gear, his anger just barely concealed bellow his expressionless façade.

"Maybe a few minutes at most. We'd just come back in a minute or so before you guys came back," Yasu volunteered the information, shuffling through the pile. He stood, pulling out a small, bright red first-aid kit and holding it out to Mai. She took the small box, hurrying to one of the benched along the walls and popping it open.

Naru frowned, glaring at no one in particular. "Naru, can you bring Lin over here?" she called, setting out an icepack that she had just activated and gauze.

"Monk, Yasu, start moving everything back into pace. We need to get the cameras up now before anything else happens that we won't have caught," he ordered, turning his back on the entire group, and dragging Lin to Mai. He dropped the much older man on the bench beside her.

"Is it sad that the only reason I know what to do right now if because I've gotten strangled so many times?" Mai asked innocently, gently rapping the gauze around Lin's already bruising neck. The bruise would be so dark it could rival many of Mai's more minor ones from previous cases.

"Yes," Naru sighed, holding his arms out as Tamaki and Kamin barreled into his chest with a screech of, "Daddy!"

**Well, there you go. I hope you liked it. Sorry if it's a little late. I had my driving test today, so when I woke up this morning I was in no mood to do anything, but psych myself out. Anyway, how was it? Finally happy we had some ghost contact? I sure am.**


	8. Chapter 8: Sneaking

**I started school on Thursday this week, so that's why I haven't posted anything until now. I hope you aren't all too angry. Updating will be sketchy because I have Myths and Legends, creative writing, and French 1 all this semester, so I've got mucho writing to do. We'll see though.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt or any of the sites mentioned in this chapter!**

Chapter 8: Sneaking

"Mai, don't go anywhere. We're going to go ask around and see if there have been any deaths here recently. Watch Base and make sure those two," Naru commanded, shoving a finger in Yasu and Monk's direction, "don't get into any trouble. I don't need people coming to complain to me." Kamin sat on his shoulder, her hands resting on the top of his head while Tamaki settled for holding tight to his hand. Ever since the day before with the Lin-nearly-strangled scare, they'd refused to leave Naru's side for even a second. It was a hassle for him even to go to the bathroom.

Mai stood at attention, saluting him. "Yes, sir! I'll make sure they don't do anything, sir! We'll stay here, eat, drink tea, and watch the monitors, sir!" she called, dropping her arm stiffly to her side.

Rolling his eyes, Naru started to close the door. "Just stay put."

Mai grinned at him as he left, dropping back down in her swivel chair. The three were silent for one long moment until Yasu got up calmly and snatched up the laptop Lin had finally forgotten to take with him.

"Let's go through his history and hack into his accounts," Yasu said mischievously, grinning as he set the computer on the monitor table they were all closest to.

"Let's do it," Monk said darkly, his voice dropping down several octaves. He grinned, rolling up onto Yasu's left.

Mai rolled up onto his right, dropping her face into her hands. "So, how are you going to hack his accounts exactly? We don't have any of his passwords."

"Guess his passwords, or if he's as lazy as I am, just make the sites remember both his passwords and his emails. And with how often he gets on and off, I have a feeling that's what he went for," Yasu explained, typing in the password he'd seen the Chinese man type in countless times to open up the computer. He tapped on Firefox, waiting patiently for it to load.

"What sites do you think he'd have an account on 'cause I'm drawing up a blank?" Monk asked, watching as Yasu's fingers flew across the keyboard at lightning speed, pulling up website after website in different tabs, "We should look at all the documents he has on here also."

Yasu gasped, his thumb rubbing at the mouse pad as he scrolled to the start button in the bottom left of the screen, pulling up the documents folder. "You're right. I never thought of that, really. I thought of all the sites we should check, just random ones that would be hilarious if he had them. Twitter, Fanfiction, Pinterest, Tumblr, all those popular ones. Oh, and Facebook so we can screw with his profile. Maybe we should make him one of those trial online dating accounts, yeah know."

Monk and Mai stared at him with raised eyebrows, listening to his ramblings until they tapered off into muttering. "You've really thought this out haven't you?" Mai asked, laughing at the evil glint in his eyes, "Tell us, Yasu, do you have an account on any of those sites?"

Rolling his eyes, Yasu pushed his glasses up his nose and grinned, "Why, of course I do. I haven't completely left my teenage years behind just because I go to college and turned twenty-two this year."

"You're going to be one of **those** adults," Monk groaned, dropping his head into his arms, "Yasu, please don't be one of those adults who still acts like they're sixteen when really they're in their thirties."

"What? Like you?" the two younger of the three asked in unison. Grinning widely at each other, Mai held out her hand for Yasu to congratulate her with a high-five.

"I am not one of those people!" Monk protested, but neither was listening to him. They were staring at the computer screen, their jaws slack. "What? What happened? What did you find? What did you get into?" he asked excitedly, turning his eyes back to the screen to see a single column of photos and writing extending past the bottom of the screen, bordered by blue. "What is this site? What are you two so surprised about?" His eyes scanned the entire screen, but he couldn't see what had made them stop in shock.

"Well," Yasu gulped, "We got into his Tumblr." Slowly, he pressed his finger under a small white sidebar.

"Followers," Monk read slowly, "56,278. So? What does that mean? Why are you guys so shocked? It's a big number, but what does it mean?"

"That's the amount of people and other blogs that follow his blog… I haven't passed 250, yet," Mai explained wistfully, staring at the number longingly. Monk's eyes slowly grew as understanding shot across his brain.

Scrunching up his nose, Yasu clicked on the small envelope icon that had a white number 10 encase in red about it at the top of the page. "I haven't gotten past 100, the lucky bastard. I wonder what his fanmail says…" He trailed off as he read the first message.

you-know-you-want-some-of-this asked:

_Omg, I loved the last chapter with Mai and Naru and Yasu being ass! You should write more really soon!_

"Um, what?" Mai mumbled, her eyebrows pulling together in confusion as she stared at the fangirling gif beneath the comment, "Does that say what I think it says? Is Lin writing… fanfiction about us?" Her voice had dropped down into a horrified whisper, trying to comprehend the meaning of the entire thing.

"I think so…" Yasu replied, scrolling down to pull the next comment into the middle of the screen.

Anonymous asked:

_Are you still taking prompt requests? Could you do one where Yasu kicks down Naru and Mai's door in a jealous rage? Pretty please? Because you love us so much?_

"Oh my god… Oh my god, he is! He's writing fics about us! How am I supposed to take this news?!" Mai cried, scooting away from the screen as if it were poisonous. Pulling her knees against her chest, she rocked back and forth, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Um…" Monk said, looking between the two younger team members, confusion flashing across his face, "Uh, I really confused. What is fanfiction and fics? Is anyone going to fill me in?"

Yasu and Mai looked at him, then glanced at each other and shook their heads together. "No, you're still innocent. There is no need to drag you into this dark world of fandoms. You are still a fandom virgin and should forever stay that way," Yasu said authoritatively, clicking on the Posts side bar and scrolling through the last posts, "Oh dear lord, Lin posts so much anime on here. Hey, is that Supernatural?"

"What are you **talking** about?!" Monk shouted, glaring at him.

"What? Lin knows about Supernatural? What has he reposted?" Mai asked, completely ignoring Monk's questioning glare as she rolled back over to the table, "He ships Cas and Dean? This is so surreal. What else does he watch?" As Yasu began to list off the other shows and animes he'd already seen in the posts, the Base door swung open, revealing a grinning Koganei.

"Hey, Mai, do you want to take a walk with me? I want to talk to you for a second," he asked, venturing into the room and glancing over Yasu's shoulder. He laughed at the post that Yasu had just scrolled past.

"Yes, please!" Mai cried, jumping from her seat and leaving Monk to question Yasu about shipping and the dark abyss known as Tumblr and the whole nine yards.

As they left the gym, wondering around the side of the building out into the more open part of the campus, Koganei asked, "Do you guys do that often?"

"What?"

"Sit on the computer scrolling through random sites."

Mai laughed, shaking her head. "No, we just want to see what Lin had hidden on his computer because he never leaves it where Monk and Yasu can get it. We were on his account. It was very scary what we found out about him in fifteen minutes of being on his computer. I wonder is Madoka knows." She pursed her lips in consideration before shrugging. She'd find out from the woman herself later. "So, why did you suddenly ask me to take a walk? Aren't you supposed to be in class?"

"Well…" He trailed off, glancing around surreptitiously as they passed a corner into a shadowy area. Suddenly, he pushed her against the side of the building, slamming his hands on either side of her head.

"Koganei? What are you doing?" she asked in surprise, staring up at the puppy faced teen.

"You need to leave, now," he said sternly, readily ignoring her question. She couldn't take him seriously with his puppy lips, but she pushed away her giggles for another time.

Mai stared up at him, her mouth hanging open. When she finally found her words, she sputtered, "What? No! I'm not going to leave halfway through a case. We still have to figure out who the ghost is and how Ash is involved!" When that didn't move him, she stared at his eyes closer. They were dull and completely blown. "You're… you're not Koganei are you?"

He shook his head.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked, her voice dropping to a whisper.

"I'm not doing it on purpose. I don't want to be here as much as you don't want me here, but it's better than where I would be," the ghost explained, screwing his eyes shut and rolling his head around on his neck, "Sorry, I can't stay here long. I just needed to talk to you."

"About what?" Mai asked, reaching out a gentle hand to brush across his cheek. It was heated and sweaty as if he were running a high fever. Ugly energy danced up her arm, the feeling she got from one of Ash's charms accompanying the shock.

"You and those children and that uptight black-haired guy, the younger one, you all have to leave immediately. Just get out of here. Don't worry about the case. It's not worth trying to solve. Once you get sucked in, he'll never let you go alive."

"Who?"

"The guy who killed me, the one who killed all of us. Please, just leave. I don't want to be the one to hurt you." The ghost blinked fast, his hands tightening into fists against the wall. "Shit, I can't stay here. Please, Mai, just go-" His words were suddenly cut off as his eyes rolled back into his head. He slumped forward, ready to plummet to the ground.

Rushing forward, Mai caught him around the chest, letting him drape over her chest, his head lolling off of her shoulder. '_Shit, shit, shit! What do I do now? I can't carry him all the way back to the gym!_' she thought frantically, glancing around.

"Help! Anyone! Can anyone help me?" she cried, grunting as she shifted the teen's weight and began the long journey back to the gym.

**Well, there you go. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I really did. I'm sorry if you guys didn't understand all of the Tumblr mumbo jumbo. I hope y'all know the terms I used. If you really don't know, just give me a shout and I'll answer any questions y'all have. See you next time!**


	9. Chapter 9: Persuasion

**I am so sorry for how late this chapter is. The good news is that I finally figured out how I'm going to end this. The bad thing is that I'm probably going to end it within the next 2-3 chapters. Then it'll be onto the sequel to this which will end this little series.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt**

Chapter 9: Persuasion

"_Just give in, you'll never win. I'll never set you free. Just end your suffering now. Give yourself over to me and I'll consider letting you keep your sense of self. I'll treat you like the human you are, or were." It was Ash's voice, filtering to Mai through the inky blackness of her dream world._

_Searing pain shot through her sternum like someone had taken a white hot poker and shoved it through the hard bone. Her breath wheezed through her lungs, difficult and painful with the pain still roiling through her chest. Words spilled from her mouth of their own volition. "Fuck you. Once I become yours, I will never be human again. Being in your service is worse than the nothingness that waits for me," she spat, her voice much deeper and definitely male. It was the voice of the ghost who'd possessed Koganei's body._

'What am I doing in the ghost's body?_' Mai thought, trying to calm her jumping nerves as whatever was holding her upright tightened painfully around her wrists, '_Why is Ash here?_'_

_Slowly, her eyelids fluttered open, and she stared in horror through the ghost's angry eyes at the teen who was trying to kill her. He looked nearly the same as the first time she'd seen him, the same mess of brown hair spilling across his forehead into his green and brown eyes. What was terrifying though were the screaming spirits writhing around his form. They curled up and around his limps, flitting through his torso and through the air surrounding him. Their mouths gaped open in agony, their screams silent to her ears. They were pale and see-through, their spirits nothing close to the humans they had once been._

'Oh dear god, what has he done to them?_' she cried, wishing she could shed tears for them, but the body she inhabited for the moment would have no part of it._

"_Oh, come now," Ash coaxed, grinning wickedly at the captivated spirits, "Service is not so back." He stroked one of the spirits passing close to his hand, running his fingers beneath what should have been its chin. "You'll never even know that you're being used. Your consciousness will disappear all together. You'll just be an empty shell filled with power that I will use for my own purposes."_

"_How is that any better than what welcomes us in death?" Mai spat, her teeth gritting and her eyes squeezing shut as the restraints tightened to bone shattering pressure._

"_You continue to exist, that is what makes it better," Ash explained, dropping his eyes and brushing his fingers almost lovingly down the back of a spirit that ran itself across his calf._

_Mai shook her head. "Once we die, we do not continue to exist. We're just echoes of what we once were. This… these things you have created are monsters… Just like you," she whispered, cracking her eyes open just in time to see Ash's fist strike out. It cracked against the side of Mai's head, jerking her head to the side. "No matter how much you beat me, I won't submit," she heard herself promise past the ringing in her ear, blood dripping from the corner of her mouth and down her chin._

"_We'll see about that," Ash snarled, striking out with his other fist, actually catching her jaw this time._

…..

Mai woke with a pained gasp, bolting into a sitting position. Her head cracked against the side of a table, sending stars dancing across her vision. "Ugh," she groaned, clutching at her head and the middle of her chest. Her ear was still ringing. If she didn't know any better, she would have sworn that whatever Ash had imbedded into the ghost's sternum had followed her into the living world. She knew that most, if not all, of the other injuries he'd inflicted certainly had.

Through her pained haze, Mai could just make out the shapes of the rest of the team including Ayako who seemed to have joined them once more. She was leaning over Koganei who was on the floor on the other side of the table, her large stomach seeming to get in the way, lifting his eyelids and checking his pulse.

Monk stood over the pair, watching the teen closely for any sign of waking. Yasu stabbed furiously at the keys of his keyboard in a corner, concentration furrowing his brow. Naru and Lin leaned close to the monitors, pointing at something she definitely couldn't make out. Beside Mai were the twins, staring at her with wide eyes. What Mai couldn't place were the two shapes seated on either side of Yasu, watching what he was pulling up with curiosity.

How none of team had heard her skull colliding with the table, she didn't know, and she didn't have enough concentration to attempt to work through it at that moment in time.

"Mommy?" Kamin whispered, carefully crawling towards her. She placed a small, shaking hand against Mai's knee, looking up into her face with more concern than a 6-year-old should need to possess.

"Mommy, why are you bleeding?" Tamaki asked worriedly, crawling to her other side, "Your ear is bleeding too."

"What?" Mai asked, her voice much louder than it needed to be. It was as if she'd shoved a wad of cotton into the ear she'd been punched in, or more, she couldn't hear out of it at all.

"Why are you yelling?" Kamin cried, slamming her hands over her ears.

Naru jerked around suddenly, his eyes landing on the trio. He found Mai's eyes, his own eyes widening in surprise. "Jesus Christ, what the hell happened? You were fine a moment ago," he shouted, rushing towards them. He dropped down in front of Mai, pulling her hand away from her head.

Mai winced, her face contorting in pain. "Well, I just hit my head on the table," she shouted back, struggling to pull her hand back so she could press it back to the side of her head.

"I heard that. I'm talking about the blood dripping from your ear and your swelling cheek. You have blood coming from your mouth and your lip is split," Naru said, turning her face with gentle fingers so he could get a better look at the bruise blooming across her jaw and cheek. He wiped blood from her chin with his thumb, but more just took its place.

"Ash," she tried to explain, but her mouth had filled with blood and spit. The name came out slurred and relatively indistinguishable.

"Get out of the way. Let me take a look at her," Ayako ordered, lifting Tamaki from his spot at Mai's side, handing him off to Lin, before pushing Naru to the side. Kamin jumped to her feet, making room for her father.

Ayako was a lot less gentle than Mai's boyfriend. She grabbed the other girl's face roughly, being careful to avoid the forming bruise. She turned Mai's face this way and that, checking her head completely before forcing her mouth open. "Well, I think your eardrum may be ruptured, which isn't good, but doesn't mean you'll go deaf is we get you treated. You've got a nasty bite on the inside of your cheek, but all your teeth seem to be fine. That bruise you've got coming in is going to be there for a while, but if we get a cold compress and later a hot pad on it, it shouldn't swell too much. Your lip is split, it'll swell, but should be fine after a while. You've got a slight black eye forming on the side your ear was hit on, and you're going to have another bruise from hitting the table. The good thing is that you don't have a concussion," she said quickly in her professional voice, pulling her hand back from Mai's face, "Are you hurt anywhere else?"

As a gut reaction, Mai shook her head, but stopped halfway through and began to nod.

Rolling her eyes, Ayako asked, "Is that a yes, or a no?"

"A yes," Mai said thickly, the swelling of her cheek combined with the blood still filling her mouth making her words almost inaudible. Blood and spit dribbled down her chin in her attempt to speak, leaving her hastily wiping away the mess.

"Okay, where?"

Swallowing and grimacing, Mai held out her wrists for everyone to see the deep, rounded cuts pressed into her skin, wrapping around both arms. "My wrists," she said, staring at the cuts for a moment before unashamedly pulling up her shirt, "And my chest, mostly my sternum. I can't really tell if there's something wrong there."

Gasps of horror ran around the entire group. Yasu and the other two with him jumped to their feet, hurrying towards them. "What is that?" John's voice asked.

Mai blinked hard, staring at the people at Yasu's sides. Slowly, John's and Masako's faces came into view, though they were still extremely fuzzy. She smiled at them. They smiled tensely back at her.

"It looks like the impression of a pendant," Monk muttered, staring hard at whatever marred the skin between Mai's breasts.

"No, it looks like someone took a pendant, heated it almost until the metal was melting, and tried to meld it with her skin!" Ayako shot at the man, anger and disgust ringing in her voice, "Whoever the fuck did this is going to fucking die! I swear to god!"

The twins had already covered their ears, burying their faces in the nearest shoulder. They hummed quietly to themselves, trying to block out the words they weren't allowed to hear and the descriptions of what had happened to their mother.

Taking her face in his hand, Naru turned Mai's face back towards him. He pulled down her shirt, covering up the burn and her torso. "Mai, how did this happen?" Naru asked, his voice cold and angry. His navy eyes sparked with promises of pain to whoever had dared hurt her.

Swallowing again, Mai wiped a hand across her mouth. "Ash, but he wasn't doing it to me."

The arguments that had cropped up around her cut off suddenly, wide eyes turning to blink at her in confusion. "What do you mean?" Naru asked, breaking the silence.

"He wasn't hurting me."

"Who was he hurting?"

"Our ghost."

It was Naru's turn to blink in surprise. He stared at her for a long moment before continuing. "You know who our ghost is?"

"I don't know his name," she said, dropping her eyes to watch her fingers fiddle with the hem of her skirt, "but yes, I know who the ghost is. That's not the point though."

"How was Ash able to hurt the spirit?"

Mai frowned. She rubbed at her forehead wear a headache was beginning to build from the quiet ringing still sounding in her ear. "I don't know exactly. I just know that he was in my dream world -probably the spirit world is where we were actually- and he was trying to make the ghost agree to being in his service or something. They were fighting over if it was better to just be a spirit, move on, or be in his service. It was weird. I don't really understand it all." Breathing deeply, she tried to recapture the breath she'd just used. "Ash was surrounded by these souls, or at least what used to be souls. They were so tragic, and they were screaming, but I couldn't hear them. I wish I could have." Tears pricked in the back of her eyes, but she forced them back. She'd have time to cry later.

Naru frowned, glancing up at Lin. "Do you think he's enslaving human spirits?" he asked, his voice just barely showing how troubled he was by this new information.

"It's entirely possible, but if that's the case, this just got much more dangerous," Lin said, hiking Tamaki up higher on his chest.

"This case was dangerous the moment Mai was first manipulated," Naru corrected, looking back at Mai, curling his fingers through hers protectively.

"We still don't know what he wants with these spirits," Lin pointed out, but Mai answered that right away.

"Power." The group stared at her. Several swallowed loudly, but she couldn't have pinpointed them even if she could have seen them.

"If that's true, then do you know what makes the spirits he had special?" Lin asked.

Mai shook her head. "No, but I do know that our ghost has P.K. – L.T. If he has a special reason for killing them, I think it lies in psychic abilities."

"Shit," half of the group groaned, running their hands up their faces and through their hair.

**Well, there you go. I hope it wasn't totally terrible. This was literally written within 2 and a half hours, so I hope it isn't complete shit. We'll see. If you see me repeating stuff from other chapters, like having Mai explain the same things, please point it out and I'll fix that. Anyway, see you next time!**


	10. Chapter 10: Names

**I'm trying to finish this story before the week is over. Next will be trying to finish R is for Rival and after that C is for Change. Then the sequel to this story most likely. Let's see how this goes, yeah?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt**

Chapter 10: Names

Mai sighed loudly, struggling to stand and pull up her underwear. She turned just enough to flush the toilet before pulling open the stall door and venturing back out into the small school bathroom she currently occupied. She was still hurting profusely from the beating she'd received, making it hard for her to do much of anything. With Naru being more overprotective than usual, she'd just barely managed to escape to go pee.

Glancing up into the sink mirror, she let out a shriek of surprise when her eyes landed on Koganei. He stood off to the side, staring in at the trashcan sitting just beside the toilet. He turned, pointing at the metal container in confusion, "Why does the girls' bathroom have a trashcan beside the toilet?" It was the ghost's voice once more, overlapping and taking over Koganei's.

"Why are you in the girls' bathroom?" Mai asked, forgoing answering his question. She didn't know if he was actually kidding or if he literally didn't know. She had a feeling that it was the latter.

"I wanted to talk to you before your boyfriend turned up to drag you back to your base. He's on his way right now, and I'd say his 'freaking out' level is at about a ten right now," the ghost explained, shrugging his shoulders and turning his eyes back to stare at the trashcan. His eyebrows scrunched together, his confusion evident in the creases lining his forehead.

"I've only been gone five minutes," Mai pointed out, rolling her eyes towards the ceiling. She loved Naru, she really did, and she understood why he was being overly protective, but that didn't mean it couldn't get on her nerves.

"Yes, but he feels as if it's been thirty. Remember, he saw your face when you woke up," the ghost replied, turning back to her. He took a deep breath and stepped towards her. "I also came here to say that I'm really sorry about… about all of this." He waved a hand to indicate her face, dropping so that it rested just over the burn between his breasts. He was not touching the burn, but Mai could feel the heat radiating off his hand.

Mai shook her head. "No, don't be sorry, you weren't the one who did this to me. It was Ash, and he wasn't even doing it to me. He was beating you. Are you alright?" she asked, worry suddenly leaking into her voice. She reached out a hand, pressing it to the middle of his chest. Though she felt nothing beneath the shirt, she could feel the phantom press of icy metal pushing into her palm.

The ghost smiled, ruffling her hair playfully. "I'm perfectly fine. I'm very resilient. My entire life, I've been beat up and made fun of. It's nice being taller than someone for once. Don't worry, I can handle Ash, but you and the other three, you four need to leave." His voice had gone serious, leaving Mai staring up at him, her frown deepening.

"What is he planning?" she whispered, realization dawning on her.

The ghost shook his head. "I couldn't tell you, even if I wanted to. All I know is that he's planning something for tonight, and he's going to be using me as the main event. I'll resist him as much as possibly, but with this," he ran his fingers over the pendant imbedded in his soul, "I can't promise I'll be able to hold him off for long. Please, just leave. Don't even try to finish this."

"I want to help you though," Mai protested, grabbing his hand and holding it tight, like she was afraid he'd disappear if she let go, "Please, let me help you, let **us** help you. We won't let him take you."

The ghost smiled sadly, rubbing a gentle thumb over her swollen cheek. "I wish you could, but I'm the only one who can help myself now. I just need you to be safe. So, please, just leave. I'll take care of my situation."

Tears pricked at Mai's eyes, threatening to spill over her lashes, but she held them at bay. "Alright, alright. I can't, and won't, promise anything, but we'll leave soon. Can I just… can you tell me your name before we go?"

He grinned. "Sakurano Rei." Leaning forward, he pressed his lips to her cheek, and then he was gone, body and all.

If Mai hadn't been in so much shock, she would have been absolutely confused about how he could have managed such a feet. She probably would have just chalked it up to one of those weird phenomenon surrounding people with psychic abilities.

A tap sounded at the door, and moments later, Naru pushed into the bathroom, his eyes landing on her. His forehead wrinkled just slightly in confusion, his eyes running over her rigid form. "Mai, what happened?" he asked, stepping towards her and setting a hand on her shoulder. She didn't have the clouded look that he now associated with Ash's hypnotism, but her eyes were wide with surprise.

"Oh my god," she whispered, turning to stare at him with large brown eyes.

"What? Spit it out already. Are you hurt again?" Naru asked quickly, scanning her body before frowning at her. She didn't have any new injuries so he had no idea what she was freaking out about.

"That jerk!" Mai shouted, grabbing onto his shoulders and shaking him just slightly, "What the hell was that? Who the fuck kisses someone who already has a boyfriend?"

"What are you talking about, Mai? Did someone kiss you?" Naru growled in annoyance, trying to keep his head from snapping back and forth as she began to shake him violently.

"Fucking Rei! Who said kissing me, even on the cheek, was a good idea?" she shouted, her mouth hanging open in disbelief.

"Who kissed you?" Naru growled, still trying to jerk to a stop, but Mai seemed to be just a bit stronger than his that day.

"Rei!"

"Who is Rei?"

"The ghost!"

Naru finally managed to stop her from shaking him, and stared at her. "You know the ghost's name?" he asked, pushing the other issue to the sidelines for just a moment.

"He told me just now," she breathed, breathless from her exertions.

"And he kissed you?" Mai nodded. "I'm going to bring that ghost back to life, and then I'm going to kill him all over again."

Mai laughed loudly, the surprise already beginning to wear off. "I love you Naru," she declared, throwing her arms around his torso.

"Well, I'd really hope so. It'd be a little awkward if I was sleeping with a girl who didn't return my feelings, don't you think?" he asked, looking down at her with raised eyebrows.

"Definitely," Mai agreed, leaning up to press her lips to his. They were careful, avoiding Mai's bruised and cut lip to their best abilities. They still managed to make Mai yelp in pain.

…..

"Wow, you two. You took a mighty long time to return from the bathroom," Yasu commented, grinning at the pair as they pushed past the two basketball teams occupying the gym for a practice game.

Naru slammed the door shut, growling about how the next person that started getting the hots for his Mai was going to end up in the hospital needing stiches in places nobody wanted them. He glared at Yasu, dropping down into a chair and pulling Mai down onto his lap. "Yasu, I'm not in the mood for your vulgar comments right at this moment, and definitely not around Tamaki and Kamin. I'll rip your tongue out the next time you make one."

Yasu waved off the threat, grinning widely at the pair. "So, what are we planning on doing to end this case?" He leaned back in his chair, raising an eyebrow at the livid man across from him.

Masako raised her hand slowly, glancing between the other members of the group. "I'd like try helping the spirit pass on. You know his or her name by now, do you not?"

Monk and Ayako glanced sheepishly at each other. "Well, you see…" Monk began, but Naru cut him off with a curt comment.

"Sakurano Rei," he said simply.

The team glanced at him, the mouths of Monk and Ayako hanging open. Yasu grinned, his glasses flashing as he adjusted them on the edge of his nose. "What?" Ayako asked, staring over at Naru.

"His name is Sakurano Rei," Naru repeated irritably, burying his nose in Mai's hair.

"When the hell did you find that out?" Monk shouted, staring at him.

"About ten minutes ago," Naru said, his voice muffled my Mai's neck. Tamaki and Kamin moved over to them, holding their arms out. Mai heaved the pair onto her lap, making Naru grunt with the extra weight. He bounced his knees, making the trio on his lap giggle.

Masako watched them curiously, a smile hidden behind her sleeve. "Mai, could I talk to you for a moment?" she asked, standing slowly and nodding towards the closed Base door.

Mai adjusted the twins so they were on Naru's lap, and stood. "Sure," she said cheerily. They headed for the door together, stopped just before heading out.

"Leave the door open," Naru said, looking over his shoulder at the pair.

"And please be careful," John requested, smiling kindly at the pair, "It's really dangerous for everyone right now."

"Of course," Mai said, smiling back at the priest before they turned the corner and the team returned to discussing strategies.

They walked around the court slowly, watching the two teams chase the ball up and down the court. "So, how was your time in Australia with John? Did you guys do lots of interesting things? Yasu thinks you two were having an affair," Mai started off, grinning over at Masako who pursed her lips in consideration.

"Well, he wasn't exactly wrong, but it was only a couple times when we'd drank a little too much," Masako explained.

"Was it good?"

Masako giggled. "Yes, very, but I've already told Yasu and he really could care less it seems," she said, "You and Naru seem to be getting along very fine. I see that the twins have started seeing you as their mother."

"Yes, to both. The twins have started calling me 'Mommy'. Every time they call me that, I just want to squeal," Mai said, shaking her fists in excitement, "And Naru and I live together, as you very well know. Living with a narcissist isn't as terrible as you might think. It's actually quite fun, especially when the twins steal his towel and he has to walk through our home naked."

Masako giggled again, her cheeks tinting pink with the image that flashed across her mind's eye. "Oh, that must have been a sight to see."

Mai waggled her eyebrows at the other girl suggestively. "Oh yes, very much so, I've even gotten a few pictures."

"And you weren't going to share them?" Masako gasped in mock pain, pressing her hand to her chest.

"Of course I am. I just needed to wait until you got back," Mai replied, turning her nose towards the ceiling, "So, when did you and John get back? It must have been a while ago if you two are already here."

Masako shrugged. "Actually, our plane landed very close to here. We heard that you guys had taken a case out here, and just decided to head over. We really should be sleeping right now, though. I'm sure we'll crash when we get to the hotel."

"I would imagine. You'll be sharing a room with me and the twins, and probably Ayako now. Naru and the twins have been sleeping in my room lately, but now that there are more females, he'll move back to the guys' room," Mai explained.

"That's too bad," Masako sighed before grinning over at Mai. They laughed.

Suddenly, there was a very male scream from the middle of the court. The entire game came to a screeching halt. Over the murmuring of the crowd, the pair could hear the quiet, sobbing screams on a player. Masako and Mai glanced at each other before rushing over to the crowd, and pushing towards the middle.

**Well, there you go. I hope you liked this chapter. I actually did. I like writing interactions between Mai and the ghost, and Mai and Masako. It's a lot of fun. I'm trying to finish this story before the end of this week, so I hope there'll be another chapter up tomorrow. See you, maybe, tomorrow!**


	11. Chapter 11: Ghostly Suicide

**This is close to the last chapter. I'm really sorry it's so short, but the next should be longer. This one was just the ending to the case more or less. The next chapter will be the last for this story.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt or Kuroko no Basuke**

Chapter 11: Ghostly Suicide

Mai let out a gasp of surprise, slamming her hands over her mouth followed closely by Masako. They were staring down at one of the other team's 2nd string players. He clutched at his knee, his face turning a sickly shade of green while simultaneously paling. Blood began to pool beneath his body, staining the sealed wood of the basketball court crimson.

The teen's leg had been snapped cleanly in half, the pearly white bone poking through the skin like a needle through fabric. Blood leaked from the puncture, dripping into the pool of blood it had already managed to create. "Oh my god, oh god, my leg," he whimpered through his sobbing screams.

Kyoshi stood at the back of the crowd, a look of horror painting his face. The rest of his team had gathered around the teen, Riko, Kuroko and Hyuga crouched next to him. The teen's captain crouched by his head, holding it still so he wouldn't see what had happened to his leg.

Suddenly, Naru was beside Mai, his voice ringing through the silent crowd, an anchor in a sea of shock. "Someone, call an ambulance now! Ayako, get over here, quick! Let her through!" he shouted, grabbing Mai's shoulders and turning her into his chest just the crowd parted for Ayako to rush through. Naru grabbed Masako's wrist, guiding her and Mai away from the scene.

"Stay here," he told them sternly, depositing them against a wall before rushing back into the crowd.

With shaking hands, Mai pressed her hands over her ears, trying hard to block out the cries of the injured teen. Masako slipped an arm through Mai's, covering one ear with her hand and pressing the other to Mai's shoulder. "Oh god," they whispered together, quietly beginning to hum under their breath in hopes that would help. To a certain degree, it did, but not enough.

What felt like hours later, the gym was finally silent. Glancing up, Masako and Mai found themselves utterly alone in the wide space with only a puddle of blood for company. They stood slowly, looking for any other source of life, but there were none. The silence felt absolutely unnatural, making both of them uneasy.

"Masako, I think we need to get out of here…" Mai's words trailed off as her eyes locked with those green-brown irises Ash wore so well.

He smiled menacingly down at her, his teeth gleaming prettily in the fluorescent overhead lights. "Hello, Mai. So nice to see you again, darling," he purred, leaning forward, his hands wrapped around the handrail of the top level.

"Masako," Mai whispered, her eyes wide and her voice quivering with surging fear, "Run. Don't look back. Just run and get Naru." She stepped out and in front of the other female just slightly, making an attempt to protect her friend.

"No," Masako refused vehemently, stepping around Mai and taking her place beside her, glaring up at the man who had been causing the team so many problem, "If you're staying here, then so am I. I won't leave you to face him by yourself."

"Oh, look, pretty flower, look at what a loyal friend you have. It would be a shame if she were the first to go," Ash inserted, bringing their full attention back to him. His grin widened, sending a shiver skittering down the girls' spines.

"I won't let you kill her!" Mai declared, clenching her fists and glaring up at the man who was no more than a child. He was a year younger than her, and he certainly acted it.

"Oh, but how are you going to stop me? You have no more PK than the average human. You may be a strong ESP user, but you have no protections from the real dangers," he growled sweetly, leaning further over the railing, "You are powerless against me."

"I wouldn't be so confident about that. I'm more powerful than you know," she bluffed, trying so hard to hide the fear the coursed through her body. '_Build your shield. Build your shield, just like Lin taught you. Don't let him get you again. If he hypnotizes you this time, it'll all be over_,' she thought, frantically building the shield she'd learned in her defense brick by brick. In a few moments, it was up and set, but she wasn't sure how long it would actually last against his assaults.

Suddenly, Masako shrieked beside her. Mai turned to grab for her, but she had already been lifted into the air. She struggled futilely against the arms wrapped around her neck, crying out.

Behind her, Rei had strung his arms around her throat. He was as small as she was, his topaz eyes poking out from behind her head. Those eyes that used to shine so brightly were dull and void, just like hers had been, but she could see a tiny spark struggling to burst to life.

"You are doing a fantastic job of protecting your friend, pretty flower. I can really see the amount of power you possess. It is of an amazing magnitude," Ash told her sarcastically, rolling his eyes towards the ceiling, "Just give up now and save us all a lot of trouble. Maybe even save your little friend's life."

"Why should I trust you?" Mai spat at him, "You'll probably just kill her the moment I agree!"

Ash shrugged nonchalantly, his face bored. "I have no need for her. She has power, but she is not powerful. I don't want people like that. I need those who have a great reserve of power, such as you and your little family. If you don't care, I could just kill her…" He trailed off, raising his fingers threateningly, ready to give the signal at a moment's notice.

"No!" Mai screeched, her eyes focusing on Masako and Rei floating before her. Even from here, she could see the flame in Rei's eyes growing bigger every moment, his eyes blinking fast. He was coming back to himself. All she needed to do was stall long enough to allow him to return fully. It wouldn't be long. "Fine. Fine. If I give in, if I let you take my soul, will you leave all of my family members alone? Every member of my team," she asked, looking back at him.

Ash pursed his lips in consideration. "Absolutely…" he began slowly, and Mai sagged in relief, "Not! What do you take me for? An idiot? There are too many special abilities and power within your little group of misfits for me to pass up. I will leave the ones who hold no interest for me alone, such as this little girl and that red-headed wench who can't seem to keep her mouth shut."

"I won't do anything for you unless you promise to leave my **entire** family alone," Mai growled obstinately, her eyes focused on Ash.

"Alright then, I guess the little girl gets to die. Remember, her blood is on your hands," he said. The snap of his fingers rang through the gymnasium. He waited for a long moment, his fingers held above his head. Frowning, he glanced towards the pair that was supposed to be floating in the air.

Rei had set Masako back on the ground, straightening her clothes quickly before allowing her to take off back towards Mai. She hid behind Mai, glaring up at Ash with so much hatred that she could have burned a hole in his forehead.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Ash snarled, glaring over at Rei who blinked back at him angrily, "Do as I tell you! Kill her!"

Rei snarled, squinting his eyes and clenching his fist. "No, I won't do what you tell me to!" he shouted, taking a few steps towards him, "I will never let you soil my hands!"

"You will do as I tell you!" Ash shouted, digging his fingers into the metal railing, making it squeal angrily.

Mai had to wonder how much strength he actually possessed. "Don't listen to him, Rei. You don't have to do what he says. You are your own person."

Rei smiled over at her. "Yes Mai, he won't make me do anything."

"You cannot hold out forever," Ash growled, pushing back off the railing. He held out his hand, cupping something that was invisible to the rest of them. He curled his fingers into the object, glaring at the trio on the floor.

Rei's smile became angry and wide, proud and powerful. "Not if I have anything to say about it."

Ash's eyes grew wide with his surprise. "What? What are you going to do?" he snarled, narrowing his eyes, "What are you planning?"

"Something that you would never expect."

Horror suddenly engulfed Masako's and Ash's faces, their mouths gaping open. Mai glanced at Masako, her smile at Rei's success falling away quickly. "Oh my god, he's going to-" Masako began, cutting off her words instantly as Rei began to rise high into the air.

"What? What is he going to do?" Mai asked frantically, looking between her and the ghost before her, floating above them.

"Don't you dare fucking do it!" Ash screeched, jumping on the railing, glaring at the spirit.

"I promised that you'd never have me," Rei replied calmly, his fists relaxing at his sides, his fingers pressing into his thighs. He pulled them up, pressing them to the middle of his chest, just over the pendant Mai knew rested there.

"What is he going to do?" Mai shouted, staring up at the spirit with more horror than the other two combined.

Masako's voice shuddered out as she whispered, "He's going to destroy himself." Tears streamed thickly down her face.

"No! You can't!" Mai screamed, but it was too late.

Rei smiled down at her one last time, murmuring, "I'm sorry, Mai," before bursting into flames. He was gone in moments, nothing left of him, not a trace.

Mai collapsed to the ground, her mouth hanging open. Masako wrapped her arms around herself, trying to curl in on herself.

Ash's scream of rage rang through the gym. As it died down, Mai realized that he had disappeared all together.

**I hope it wasn't terrible. Sorry that it was shorter than the others. This was the last for this case, that's why it was short. The next chapter will be the last, the epilogue, and then I'll be onto the sequel in a couple months, once I finish the rest of my stories and Nanowrimo for this year. See you soon!**


	12. Chapter 12: Epilogue

**Sorry this one was so short, but it's the ending so I think it's fine. See you next time with the sequel to this "Hungering".**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt or Kuroko no Basuke**

Chapter 12: Epilogue

"I have to say," Monk began, breaking the tense silence that had surrounded the SPR team since the morning after Rei's destruction had begun, "That has to be the oddest ending to a case we've ever had."

"I don't know if it's really an end as much as a continuation," Mai mumbled, wrapping a cord around her palm and under her elbow.

John looked over at her, worry clear in his expression. "What do you mean, Mai?" he asked, glancing back towards Masako. For most of the morning, he and Yasu had been taking turns staring at the purple bruises ringing the small girl's neck, concern written all over their faces.

"I don't think it's over for us, with Ash I mean. I don't think he's gone, no matter what the rest of you may think. He's still out there somewhere, probably nursing his wounds, waiting for another chance. He won't give up that easily," Mai explained, her eyes turned down towards the floor, unable to meet the stares of the rest of the group.

Naru sighed deeply, standing beside Mai packing a box full of monitors. "That is not what I wanted to hear…" he muttered under his breath, pushing the box to the side and grabbing the wound cord she handed him and shoving it into another box, "but I expected it. We'll need to get rid of him as a threat soon if he's just going to be following us from case to case."

"How are we going to do that?" Ayako asked, leaning back in one of the many swivel chairs still populating the overcrowded room, rubbing her stomach unconsciously.

"We'll kill him," Yasu said darkly, his demonic voice and playfulness coming out in his words. When the others chuckled half-heartedly, he still smiled widely, happy that he'd pulled at least small smiles from them.

"That might be what we'll have to resort to," Naru said, rubbing at his forehead, "Either that or we're going to have to find some way to strip him of all the spirits he's collected and whatever power he possesses. The shock may kill him anyway."

The team collapsed back into silence, mulling over the only two options they seemed to have at that moment. They were so engrossed in their own thoughts that they didn't notice when Koganei cautiously stepped into the room, standing with his hands clasped in front of him in the doorway.

Mai turned, feeling eyes on her and let out a shout of surprise. She pressed a hand over her fluttering heart, whispering, "Oh dear lord, you scared the holy hell out of me."

"Sorry," he said, glancing nervously from Naru to Monk to Lin to Ayako who were all glaring at him as if assessing his worth, "I was just… just wondering if I could talk to you for a moment. If that's alright with your boss." He locked eyes with Naru and was the first to drop his eyes.

Satisfied, Naru turned to Mai. "Be careful. If anything feels the slightest out of place or wrong, come back," he said, his fingers pressing into the palm of her hand in a sort of caress.

Mai smiled, wrapping her fingers around his for a short moment before moving towards the door. "Sure Koganei, let's go take a walk around the gym." She moved out the door, leaving it open as they turned the corner.

"So, you're leaving today…" he started, trailing off as his eyes scanned over his teammates. They shoved the ball at each other aggressively. The ball slammed into Kyoshi's nose as he watched their progress around the court.

Riko glared at the teen as he dropped to the floor, clutching his nose. "Stop watching the flowers grow, Kyoshi, and focus!" she shouted.

"I was actually watching flowers bloom," Kyoshi mumbled thickly, grinning through the blood dripping from his nose. Riko rolled her eyes, tossing a wet towel at his face.

"Yeah," Mai said quietly, trying not to imagine that she could still hear Rei's voice above Koganei's. He was gone and he couldn't ever come back. "We'll be gone within an hour at most. Mr. Shibuya wants to be out of here as quickly as possible."

"I can understand that," he replied, scratching the back of his head, "So… will we ever see you again?"

Mai pursed her lips, stroking her chin thoughtfully. "Well… Kamin and Tamaki loved playing with you guys. They really enjoyed when you guys were trying to teach them how to play and then would play with them," she explained, "So… yeah, I think we'll come back. We really actually enjoyed your guys' company when we could."

Koganei grinned his puppy grin, excitement sparkling in his black eyes. "That'd be great! We all liked having you guys as well. It'd be nice if you won't have to come back for another haunting."

"Oh, I hope we won't," Mai said, her eyes growing wide, "That would be a lot of trouble for one place."

Koganei nodded, looking away from her once more. Slowly, his cheeks began to darken with a light blush. "So, um, am I going to be able to see you again? Like… not at school. As in… on a date?" he asked haltingly, his neck flaming strawberry red.

Mai smiled sadly up at the teen. "Koganei, you're a nice kid, but I have a boyfriend already, and I'm very happy with him. I **love** him. Plus, you are just too young for me. Our relationship would be illegal, like Yasu's mouth."

Koganei laughed, scratching the back of his head. "I think that's the easiest, yet harshest, way someone's ever turned me down," he mumbled, staring down at his feet.

"Sorry, but you know, we can still be friends…" Mai paused, glancing down at her feet. She slapped her hands to her cheeks, her eyes going wide. "Oh god, did I really just say that?"

"Yeah, you did," Koganei laughed, pressing his hand to his mouth.

"Oh god, I need to use the sleep again. I don't think I used it long enough," Mai said, laughing at her own idiotic words.

Before Koganei could reply, Kamin and Tamaki called from across the gym, "Mommy! We found a box thingy! Can we open it?"

"Um, sure," Mai called just as a gut reaction, but paused for a moment. She spun around, the bell in her chest shrieking at her. "No, don't touch it!" She rushed towards them as they were opening the lid, staring down at the pretty silver ring with a green and brown swirled stone.

She snatched at the little box, her fingers brushing over the cool metal. That familiar skitter of energy ran up her arm, stronger than ever. She let out a scream of agony as her soul was ripped from her body, cast into the spirit realm.

"_I've got you," Ash's voice whispered around her, his arms wrapping around her shoulders and pulling her against his solid chest. He breathed heavily, excitedly in her ear, his breath hot on the side of her face._

_What little hope Mai may have possessed completely disappeared, leaving her in a pit of despair._

…..

Mai's body collapsed to the floor, her head and shoulders cracking against the sealed wood. Practice came to a screeching halt, all of the teammates turning to see what had happened. Koganei was on his knees beside her in moments, shaking her carefully. "Mai! Mai wake up!" he shouted, his voice frantic.

Naru rushed through the open ex-Base door, skidding to a halt and dropping down beside Mai. "What happened? What made her collapse?" he asked quickly, glancing between the cowering twins and the puppy-faced teen. The others followed closely after him, making a circle around them.

"I-I d-don't know," Koganei stammered, staring between Mai's body and the slowly growing livid man, "S-she just t-touched some r-ring or something, and t-then collapsed. I don't know what happened!"

Tuning out the rambling of the scared teen, Naru checked her pulse. It was faint and fluttery, but it was still there. "Mai, wake up. Just wake up," he whispered, leaning forward and pressing his lips to hers. He pulled back, pressing his forehead to hers. He waited for an innumerous amount of moments before she suddenly gasped, sitting up. "Oh thank god," he whispered, pulling her into a tight hug.

"You idiot scientist," Mai snarled, her voice lower than it would normally be.

Pulling back in confusion, Naru was not met with the warm chocolate brown of the woman he loved, but the same navy blue as his eyes. He stared at her, his mouth dropping open. "What…?"

"Get those big gears in your head turning, idiot, you can figure it out. We need to get going now," she said, glaring playfully at him and tapping his forehead. She stood, sliding the ring box into a pocket, looking down at her body. "It's weird being in a female body," she mumbled thoughtfully.

Naru was still working through what had just occurred when the twins squealed in a mixture of anger and excitement. "You're not our mommy! Who are you?" they shouted, pointing accusing fingers at the girl.

"I'm Gene, your biological father, your dad's twin brother," Mai said, smiling kindly.

"What?" every single person in the gym cried, staring wide-eyed at her.

**THE END**

**Yep, that was the end. Sorry for the cliff hanger. The sequel to this shouldn't be too far behind. It'll be called "Hungering". Hope to see you guys soon!**


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